The Christie Affair

Genre: Historical / Mystery

Book Type: Audio

Title: The Christie Affair

Author: Nina de Gramont

Narrator: Lucy Scott

Pages / Length: 320 pages / 10 hours and 23 minutes

Publisher: ‎St. Martin's Press (February 1, 2022) / Macmillan Audio

Book Description: Why would the world's most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman's marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?

In 1925, Miss Nan O’Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life––first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan’s plot didn’t begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.

It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together––until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.

What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont’s brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.

Thoughts: Where are my Agatha Christie lovers at?! How in the world did I not know that she disappeared for 11 days?! Talk about going down a rabbit hole?! I had no idea, which made this book all the more intriguing and enjoyable. It is full of a wide range of topics: love, pregnancy loss, abuse, lies, war, mystery, mental health, disappearing women, dreams and family.

What I loved most was that I had no idea Christie ever went missing, and that there isn’t a lot known about her disappearance (why she disappeared or where she even was during that time), so that made this story so enjoyable. This book read like a mystery which made me enjoy it more than I was expectin. I enjoyed that it also discusses the past of the mistress, and that as the story reads on and it shows how the two womens stories overlap.

There are a number of theories as to Christie’s disappearance: to boost novel sales / publicity stunt, to escape the embarrassment of her husband’s affair, nervous breakdown after the death of her mother, or amnesia after a car accident, to name a few. And while we will never know what really happened, my mind likes to wonder to the pressure put on women and sometimes the need to escape it all. She was a successful novelist and mother, while her husband was having an affair and her mom just passed away. That sounds like a lot to process, and sometimes you just need the chance to sort it all out without one distracting the other, so I like to think she wanted to get away and sort out how she was going to handle her life without being under the scrutiny of the media. This novel offers an interesting story on why and how she went missing, as well as what she was doing in the days she was gone. It also does an excellent job describing the different struggles women faced at the time (and continue to today), and how women were (and are) expected to deal with various situations as well as the lack of say in their own lives. While I would categorize this as Historical Fiction, it has some surprises at the end that are very “Agatha Christie” and made me smile. I didn’t see them coming, but they were executed extreamly well! This is an excellent read, and I am so glad I read it!

Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for a book review. This was more than I was expecting and I loved the surprises and element of mystery the book possessed.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫