Agatha Christie novels are being rewritten to avoid offending modern audiences

Agatha Christie’s novels are the latest works to be rewritten to eliminate verbiage that has been deemed insensitive or inappropriate, it has emerged.

Several of the passages in the author’s Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have reportedly been reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books.

Publisher HarperCollins eliminated text containing ‘insults or references to ethnicity’, as well as descriptions of certain characters’ physiques, The Telegraph reported.

Ms Christie’s works are the latest to undergo politically correct rewriting. It comes after books by Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming and Enid Blyton were edited over sensitivity concerns.

Agatha Christie’s novels are the latest works to be rewritten to eliminate verbiage that has been deemed insensitive or inappropriate, it has emerged. Ms Christie is pictured in 1950

Several of the passages in the author's Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have reportedly been reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books. Pictured: David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Toby Jones as Samuel Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express

Several of the passages in the author’s Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have reportedly been reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books. Pictured: David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Toby Jones as Samuel Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express

New editions of Ms Christie’s novels, reviewed by the newspaper, showed that editors have made ‘scores of changes’ to her books.

The novels, penned between 1920 and 1976, were stripped of sections of ‘unsympathetic’ dialogue, apparent insults and character descriptions.

For example, the word ‘Oriental’ has been removed from her 1937 mystery Death on the Nile, which follows sleuth Hercule Poirot as he investigates a murder on a luxury cruise.

The publisher changed dialogue of character of Mrs Allerton, who was complaining about pestering children. 

The original text said: ‘They come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don’t believe I really like children.’

The rewritten version reportedly reads: ‘They come back and stare, and stare. And I don’t believe I really like children.’

In one Miss Marple novel, text has been changed from 'his Indian temper' to just 'his temper' when describing an Indian judge character who undergoes a fit of rage. Pictured: Joan Hickson as Miss Marple

In one Miss Marple novel, text has been changed from ‘his Indian temper’ to just ‘his temper’ when describing an Indian judge character who undergoes a fit of rage. Pictured: Joan Hickson as Miss Marple

'References to Egypt's Nubian people have also been from Death on the Nile, meaning phrasing like 'the Nubian boatman' now simply reads 'the boatman'. Pictured: A scene from the 2020 film adaptation of Death on the Nile

‘References to Egypt’s Nubian people have also been from Death on the Nile, meaning phrasing like ‘the Nubian boatman’ now simply reads ‘the boatman’. Pictured: A scene from the 2020 film adaptation of Death on the Nile

The publisher also eliminated the n-word from character dialogue and Ms Christie's prose. Pictured: Agatha Christie circa 1965

The publisher also eliminated the n-word from character dialogue and Ms Christie’s prose. Pictured: Agatha Christie circa 1965

References to Egypt’s Nubian people have also been removed, meaning phrasing like ‘the Nubian boatman’ now simply reads ‘the boatman.’ 

A servant originally characterised as ‘black’ and ‘grinning’ is no longer identified by his race and instead described as ‘nodding,’ according to The Telegraph.

Similar changes were made in the 1964 novel A Caribbean Mystery, which tells the tale of detective Miss Marple’s holiday at a resort hotel in the West Indies.

Phrases including ‘such lovely white teeth’ and ‘beautiful teeth,’ which were used to described a smiling hotel worker, have been removed.

The book also no longer features text that described a female character as having ‘a torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed.’

In later Miss Marple works, text has been changed from ‘his Indian temper’ to just ‘his temper’ when describing an Indian judge character who undergoes a fit of rage.

Similar changes were made in the 1964 novel A Caribbean Mystery, which tells the tale of detective Miss Marple's holiday at a resort hotel in the West Indies. Phrases including 'such lovely white teeth' and 'beautiful teeth,' which were used to described a smiling hotel worker, have been removed. Pictured: Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple in A Caribbean Mystery

Similar changes were made in the 1964 novel A Caribbean Mystery, which tells the tale of detective Miss Marple’s holiday at a resort hotel in the West Indies. Phrases including ‘such lovely white teeth’ and ‘beautiful teeth,’ which were used to described a smiling hotel worker, have been removed. Pictured: Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple in A Caribbean Mystery

‘Natives’ are now described as ‘locals’ and, in the 1920 Poirot novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the description of a character being ‘a Jew, of course’ has been removed.

The publisher also eliminated the n-word from character dialogue and Ms Christie’s prose.

Ms Christie’s novels have been altered in the past. Her 1939 book was retitled And Then There Were None after its original name featured a racist term.

MailOnline has approached HarperCollins and Agatha Christie Limited, the company understood to handle licensing for her works, for comment. 

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