Recently, I was watching an episode of Bridgerton, that television show loosely based on what we call The Regency Era. Unless you are a Jane Austen fanatic or an historian, what you remember about this period may be sketchy.

Bridgerton fans already know it was called the Regency because the king was unwell and his son ruled as Regent. The unwell king was George III, that guy who sang “You’ll Be Back” in Hamilton, and from whom the United States of America declared its independence in 1776.

George III died in January of 1820, and his son became King George IV. According to the rules of periodization (the custom of naming blocks of time), the Regency technically also included George IV’s years as king, concluding with the end of his reign.

Do you know who came next? Victoria, who was George IV’s niece and the granddaughter of George III and his wife, Queen Charlotte. Periodization goes straight from the Regency to the Victorian eras, although women of the Bridgerton court didn’t just toss off their big, powdered wigs and slap on a little lace mourning cap overnight.

Victoria was Agatha Christie’s queen until she was almost twelve years old, and her parents’ and grandparents’ queen, too. It’s not surprising that Miss Marple was written to have so many Victorian characteristics.

Of course, Queen Victoria lived a very long life, as did Agatha Christie, and the influence of each was felt over decades. Christie died in 1976, which is within my lifetime, but her first books are over one hundred years old, which certainly is NOT within my lifetime!

My inspiration for writing Agatha Annotated is all about how swiftly time passes, and with it, our understanding of what is “current” and “contemporary.” So much of Christie’s 1920s novels is foreign to today’s readers now. How hard will it be to understand them in another fifty or one hundred years? Here’s hoping my contribution will make it a bit easier!