Hughes Massie & Co Ltd is a firm of literary agents which represented Agatha Christie in the U.K. for most of her writing career.
Christie was first recommended to Hughes Massie by family friend and neighbour Eden Phillpotts in 1909. She had just written a novel Snow Upon the Desert. Philpott thought the firm, which also represented him, would be able to give her constructive criticism. However it seemed that Mr Massie, then in charge, told her that her work was "best forgotten".[1]
Christie did not sign on with Massie until 1923 after she returned her round the world trip to promote the British Empire Exhibition. By this time she had written some successful books but was dissatisfied with her contract with her publishers John Lane. She had come to the conclusion that there was "such a thing as an agent who is some good". She approved Hughes Massie and met the then head of the firm Edmund Cork with whom she developed a good rapport. The relationship between Christie and the firm would ultimately prove rewarding as well as effective for both.[2]
Christie dedicated The Labours of Hercules to Edmund Cork and Third Girl to Nora Blackborow, another employee at the firm.
References[]
- ↑ Laura Thompson, Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life (London: Headline, 2007), 65, ebook edition.
- ↑ Laura Thompson, Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life (London: Headline, 2007), 131, ebook edition.