This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
The recent and very exciting news that a new Poirot novel is set to be published (after Agatha Christie's family granted permission for her work to be continued posthumously) has got us thinking. We wondered how many other novels and characters have continued long after the original author died. Once we'd put our heads together, we were surprised by just how many we could come up with. Here are some of our favourites:
1. The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah – Sophie Hannah is to write a brand new Poirot story (this is what got us onto the subject of character continuation in the first place). As Poirot was killed off in Curtain, this will be an episode from earlier in Poirot's life. The novel will be told from the perspective of a policeman who asks for Poirot's involvement in a case. It will be released on September 8th.
2. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James – Darcy and Elizabeth, from Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, have been married for six years and have two sons. Jane and Bingley live nearby and all is well. Until, that is, Lydia returns screaming that her husband has been murdered.
3. Ruth's Journey by Donald McCaig – An authorised Gone with the Wind prequel, this will tell the story of Mammy, the slave devoted to Scarlett O' Hara, her mistress. It will flesh out the character of Mammy, something the original novel was criticised for. It will be published in America in October.
4. Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman – A sequel to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. On the 20th anniversary of Rebecca's death, Colonel Julyan receives a parcel. It contains a notebook with the words 'Rebecca's Tale'.
5. Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth by Andrew Neiderman ghostwriting as VC Andrews – I remember reading Flowers in the Attic as a child. It was a shocking tale which saw four children locked in the attic in order for their mother to gain an inheritance from her dying father. Andrew Neiderman became the ghostwriter for V.C Andrews after she died in 1986. He is writing Christopher's Diary based on Flowers in The Attic and it is set to be published later this year. You can find out more here.
6. Longbourn by Jo Baker – There have been many sequels, prequels and various re-workings of Jane Austen, particularly Pride & Prejudice. These include Bridget Jones, a Jane Austen zombie novel and a Fifty Shades type book, too. But Longbourn is told from the perspective of the domestic servants at Longbourn House, the residence of the Bennets.
7. Wicked by Gregory Maguire – This is the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, who turns out to be not so wicked after all.
8. James Bond – James Bond stories were originally written by Ian Fleming. Since Fleming died in the 1960s, his secret agent stories have been continued by many writers, most recently by William Boyd, who gave us Solo. The author Charlie Higson has also written a series on the young James Bond.
9. The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz – Commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate this is a continuation of Sherlock Holmes – originally written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and narrated by Dr. Watson.
10. Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of the Game by Tilly Bagshawe – Sidney Sheldon has sold hundreds of millions of his books. Since his death, Tilly Bagshawe has written four books under his name, starting with Mistress of the Game in 2009 – this was a sequel to Master of the Game written by Sidney and published in 1982.
Can you think of any others that we might have missed?