My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐/ 5 stars

This is a historical fiction based on the actual event of infamous writer Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance in 1926. Some had thought it was for publicity for her new book or hiding from the embarrassment of her husband’s affair, and this book fixates on the latter. The POV is solely from Miss Nan O’Dea, who is the mistress to Agatha’s husband, Archie. It is unclear as to why she is so adamant about going after this married man. As you read further, you learn about how her past in Ireland has now led her to this moment and how it ties to another man that she truly loves. After Archie tells Agatha he is is divorcing her, she disappears for 11 days, without a trace involving a nationwide man hunt into her whereabouts.

I loved the premise and the whole idea of how it ties back to Agatha Christie, but at times I felt like I was reading two different books. I wished the book was told in other POVs, maybe Finbar or Agatha. I didn’t find Nan to be particularly interesting, other than the tragic things that were happening to unwed mothers at the time. We are told what we think Agatha might be thinking, because it is still in Nan’s POV which I didn’t enjoy. As much as I wanted to like this story about how a man rightfully and deservedly stole another woman’s husband, I thought it was ok, but didn’t love it.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What happened to Agatha Christie during her 11 day disappearance? I found Ms. de Garmont’s take very entertaining. Full of twists, turns, love, loss, revenge and acceptance. The decision to tell the story from Mr. Christie’s mistresses point of view was an interesting one! I found myself sympathizing with the home wrecker.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Nina de Gramont for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #The ChristieAffair

Review will be posted on 2/15/22

Agatha Christie's world is crumbling apart. Despite living in a beautiful home with her husband and daughter, and the fact that she is a successful writer, her life isn't perfect. Her husband, Archie, has a mistress and plans on divorcing Agatha to be with his mistress, Nan O'Dea. Archie is so bold that he flaunts his mistress and even spends long weekends with her. There seems to not be much remorse on his end, despite the fact that Agatha wants to work on their marriage. Archie takes off for a long weekend and leaves Agatha behind. She has decides she will leave as well, but all that remains is her abandoned car on the side of the road with a full suitcase inside. What happened to her? No one can find her. This novel re-imagines the eleven day disappearance of Agatha Christie and the highly publicized search for her. Meanwhile, readers learn more about Nan, Archie's mistress, and who she is exactly--what motivates her, her trauma from the past, and her early adult years in England and Ireland. I was completely absorbed in Agatha's story and despite my best efforts, I was even sympathetic towards Nan's plight. I adored The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont and its new take on Agatha's disappearance as well as the complex questions it raises, such as what drives people to do questionable things? What would you do for love?

At first, it was easy to brush Agatha to the side as she seemed rather boring and a bit frumpy in The Christie Affair. However, as the story unfolds there's so much more to Agatha than readers initially thought, mostly because the story is from Nan's point of view. Despite the fact that these two women shouldn't have anything in common other than Archie, their stories do intertwine for sometime and de Gramont weaved it so very well. I have always wondered what the heck happened to Agatha Christie during her eleven day disappearance. It just seems very mysterious...almost straight out of her books. Was it a publicity stunt? Someone must know of the truth, right? Well, de Gramont re-imagined it and answered all our questions. She filled in the gaps to her disappearance, added a few tantalizing twists, and what she came up with is so very memorable.

At first, I was thinking there's no way I could sympathize with Nan in The Christie Affair. I mean why is she so interested in Archie? Is she really ok with breaking up the Christie's marriage? Archie is a cad and an all around horrible guy, so what gives? However, as de Gramont takes readers back to Nan's childhood, her summers in Ireland, and the various events that forged her character, I was invested. I cared about Nan despite my best efforts and her story broke my heart. I loved her summers in Ireland, her relationship with the charismatic Finbarr, and so much more. I don't want to give too much away, but I ended up caring a lot about Nan and even empathized with her! Nan has had to deal with so much. A war, a pandemic, a family tragedy, an unfortunate twist of fate--how could I not feel for her situation?

The Christie Affair is one of my favorite books of the year. I adored the way the story unfolded and how it addressed so much more than Agatha's disappearance. I loved de Gramont's writing style and the story truly made me think about what motivates people. It made me question what would I do for love? Also, de Gramont brings major Christie vibes to The Christie Affair and dare I say she does Agatha justice!

So, is The Christie Affair on your TBR list or did you read it already? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Christie Affair is the story of Agatha Christie's 11 day disappearance told from the viewpoint of her husband's mistress. This is a quick, entertaining read!

After enjoying "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie", which imagines Agatha Christie's disappearance from her point of view, I was intrigued to see how this period of time might be recreated from the point of view of Archie's mistress, Nan. It seemed like that would be hard to do, and I imagine it was. The result is a spellbinding, meaningful novel. The author's version of the events of Agatha's disappearance is so original, I never could have come up with it. Mixed in with these events, we learn Nan's back story, which causes the reader to come away with a respect and a closeness to both Nan and Agatha. I think that is masterful, because this is someone I was set against from the beginning. If I were to change anything, I might cut out a bit of Nan's story, because it caused the book to lose momentum for me, but I understand if the author felt it necessary to win us over to Nan's mindset. The events of this book were where it shines. I felt warmth for Agatha, Nan, Finbarr, and Inspector Frank Chilton. I also loved the little bits of Agatha's life mixed in, such as how Archie's mother never liked Agatha because she wore Peter Pan collars and dared to show her neck, or how Agatha and Archie called each other "A.C." As an Agatha Christie fan, I really appreciated that, but I believe this book will have fans of people who have never even picked up an Agatha Christie book.

I loved this book so much!!!!!! This is a historical fiction story about Agatha Christie that tells us the other side to her failing marriage. Her side and the courage it took her to move on after the destruction.

The story behind this was new to me, even though the mystery is pretty common knowledge for Christie fans. I have to say the concept was good, but actually reading it was a little flat. It was a very slow read for me, found it hard to keep my interest.

I'm flew through The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont. Though it's historical fiction, I was really fascinated by the story of Agatha Christie's disappearance and may have fallen down a rabbit hole reading about it. I've not read an Agatha Christie book...yet! But that may change soon!

I really enjoyed The Christie Affair and would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

A heartbreaking tragic love story interwoven with the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie. Written from the perspective of Nan O’Dea the mistress of Agatha Christie’s husband Archie. This novel is more a historical drama rather than a mystery, but Nan’s story is poignantly told and will leave your heart aching. The novel is written beautifully, but the first two parts are intractably told, and readers may abandon the story for a faster paced novel. In typical Agatha Christie fashion, there is a beguiling mystery that is satisfactorily concluded. As no one knows what Agatha Christie did during her missing eleven days, the story is fictional. I enjoyed the novels portrayal of events but was anticipating an action-packed adventure. The subdued historical drama was filled with heartbreak and drama. The ending however is worth the wait and will have you greedily flipping pages. A very different novel that will have you rooting for a happy ending. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

The Christie Affair novel is classified as historical fiction as it uses the true story of mystery writer Agatha Christie's mysterious, real 11 day disappearance as the framework for the story. However, a closer reading reveals that it is mostly pure fiction with only tidbits of true history thrown in. The story is narrated by Nan O'Dea, who is a completely fictional character replacing the real life counterpart of Nancy Neele as the woman who steals away Agatha's husband Archibald (Archie). Agatha's daughter Rosalind is replaced by fictional Teddy. Nancy's son is replaced by a daughter. The narration is confusing within the story as the narrator says she is imagining what everyone said and did, so even though Nan is the narrator throughout the story, the story seems to shift between points of view and perspective within chapters rather abruptly to different characters such as Archie or police detectives or Agatha.

The book mainly focuses on the backstory of the fictional Nan. It was a compelling story complete with young romance, tragedy, war, and life-changing decisions. I would have likely given THAT story, as a stand alone book, 4-5 stars. That story was the story the book should have been about, minus any (however minor) forcibly woven in story about Agatha Christie. THAT story didn't need the distraction of Agatha Christie as the "other" woman--any fictional wife written in her place, would have actually created a much more readable and compelling story. Also, the very last portion of the book weaves in the fictionalized version of what Agatha's time during her disappearance might have been like, complete with a murder for her to solve. THAT story also should have been separate book, where it could have been based mostly on the real author's real life, with the fictional, imagined time away dealing with a murder (no fictional Nan or back story) to solve and also a potential romance, while she's there. That stand alone book, is the book I THOUGHT this one was going to be and disappointed that it wasn't. That book, I would likely give 4-5 stars to also. THIS book should have actually been 2 books instead of 2 separate stories forcibly and incoherently mashed together into one.

“Authors created problems, they didn't solve them”

The Christie Affair takes place in 1926 around the sensational chain of events leading up to Agatha Christie’s disappearance for 11 days. The day after her husband, Archie Christie, tells her that he’s leaving her for his mistress Nancy Neele, Agatha Christie disappears. Her car was discovered abandoned with all of her belongings, clothes and license included. Agatha was nowhere to be found.

This historical fiction is written from the point of Nancy Neele, referred to as Ms. Nan O’Dea, which was an interesting choice that I really enjoyed. She had a very interesting background that felt similar to The Handmaid's Tale. Nan’s story overpowered Agatha’s more than once, which made me wonder if she could have had her own story instead.

I really loved the idea of this book, what happened to Agatha Christie was compelling and there isn’t a reader who doesn’t know her name. The writing was good, but the story felt a little messy at times when it came to plot. The guessing game of what happened was what kept me going. It was long, but in the end, the mystery of Agatha Christie was worth reading.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first thing you need to know about this fictional book about the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie is that it NOT really a book about Agatha Christie. She is a secondary character in Nan O’Dea’s story. The sooner you come to this realization, the more readily you’ll enjoy this book.

The second thing you need to know about this book is that while the affair, the disappearance, and most of the characters are all real-life events and people, this book is a completely fictional imagining of what happened. Don’t drive yourself crazy fact-checking along the way. Just enjoy the ride. This historical fiction is mostly fiction.

Once you understand those two things, you will understand that the author used them as a device to deliver the real story, one of lovers torn apart by war and circumstance, betrayal, revenge, justice, the camaraderie of women willing to help other women, and how far a mother is willing to go for her children.

I admit, I struggled through the first 25-30% of this book until I came to terms with the two things above.

The story is told by Nan O’Dea, the mistress that Archie Christie left his famous wife for. It was a risky move by the author because who wants to find sympathy with a home-wrecker? But as the story unfolded, I found myself invested. The story de Gramont paints of Nan’s life is compelling and heart-breaking, and I ended up finding her very sympathetic.

I really enjoyed how Nan and Agatha were portrayed in the book in relation to one another. They were two women who should have been rivals, enemies, but instead of tearing one another down as opportunities arose, they chose to support one another instead.

I also liked the light that was shone on the despicable practice of essentially imprisoning unwed expectant mothers in “homes” run by nuns who instead of caring for their charges, took pleasure in punishing them, in the name of faith and religion. These mothers were expected to work off their room and board, had their children ripped away from them almost as soon as they gave birth to be adopted out, and in many cases were abused by those who were supposed to be caring for them. And don’t get me started on the social norms that put them there. Side note: if you want to read another historical fiction about this topic, I highly recommend The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis.

The plot itself played out much like an Agatha Christie book, and I enjoyed the symmetry of that. I often find myself trying to guess every little thing along the way, but I just sat back and enjoyed the ride with this one, allowing myself to be surprised, even though it was pretty predictable.

The only complaint I have is the narration. I found at times that there was very little differentiation between first person and third person in Nan’s telling of the story. Some paragraphs were third person accounts of another person in the story followed immediately by Nan’s own first person thoughts. Usually I could see through it, but there were definitely several times I had to re-read passages because the narration was a bit ambiguous. This could be due to the unedited proof eARC I have, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt that this will have been smoothed over in the final published copy.

All in all, I liked the book and found the storyline interesting and the concept unique. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but it holds your attention once you get over the fact that the story isn’t really about Agatha and is more fiction than historical. I happen to have Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie in my TBR pile, and I am anxious to read that soon and compare notes with this one. If you’re a fan of historical fiction with strong female characters, I think you’ll like this book.

The disappearance of Agatha Christie for 11 days in 1926 is fodder for supposition, and Nina de Gramont proposes a factually implausible, but intriguing, story to explain it. Told from the perspective of Agatha’s husband Archie’s mistress, named in this work as Nan O’Dea, the most interesting elements of the story are Nan’s background. We learn about Nan as a teen and young woman through flashback chapters, which I looked forward to more than the resolution of the missing Agatha. Any fan of Christie, unless unwilling to suspend belief of some facts, would find this version of the missing 11 days a well written story about the fictional mistress.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for access to an early access to The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Christie Affair by Nina deGramont.
The Christie Affair is a mystery surrounding Agatha Christie's 11 day disappearance. Because of the unknown details of the 11 days, Nina deGramont has the freedom to create her own events. DeGramont imagines a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
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Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days back in the 1920s. Where did she go during that time? What happened to her? The Christie Affair spins a tale of secrets, betrayal, heartache, unexpected camaraderie and ….death.
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What I liked:
-I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with Agatha Christie, but I enjoy her books and am very intrigued by her. Reading a story about her famous disappearance is what drew me to this book.
-Once the story got to the hotel it really picked up. The cast of characters there really had a feel like one of Agatha’s books.
-Nan’s back story was heart-wrenching and I loved how it was told slowly and it made me gradually change my mind on how I felt about everything.
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What I didn’t like:
-I think my intrigue for Agatha has made me super loyal to her so I strongly disliked Nan’s character at first. So it took me awhile to get into this book.
-I was also disappointed by how Agatha was betrayed towards the end of the book.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Before I even finished this story I was researching the internet for Agatha and her life. I needed to know all about her! Overall, I enjoyed this story and I think the author did a great job spinning an “Agatha-like” mystery while also giving a possible reason for her 11 day disappearance.

I was really interested in this topic. I love the idea of trying to figure out what Agatha Christie was doing during those 12 days. This unfortunately was really hard for me to get into. I found myself strongly disliking her husband and his mistress.

The Christie Affair, by Nina de Gramont, engages the reader in the decades-old parlor game of wondering where Agatha Christie actually was when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926. We know that her husband had asked for a divorce so that he could marry his secretary. We know where she was found. Beyond that, there is nothing. Within that slight historical scaffold, the author creates a complicated story of lost love, found love, abuse, revenge, murder, and redemption of sorts. She takes us on a wonderful, twisty ride, powered by both conjecture and coincidence. Once I recognized that the story was almost entirely fiction, I enjoyed it. The characters are memorable and sympathetic, including the completely amoral mistress, who serves as narrator for much of the novel. If you are looking for history about Agatha Christie, don't spend time or money on this book. On the other hand, if you are willing to enjoy one author's creative attempt to fill an actual blank page of history, this might be the perfect book for a winter weekend. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was my pleasure.

I enjoyed this historical fiction that leans heavily into the fiction aspect, of what MAY have occurred during the 11 days that saw Agatha Christie disappear and claim she could not remember what occurred , and never did reveal. The story is told from the POV of her husband’s mistress Nan, who weaves a tale of mystery, romance and past trauma to create the imagined events. Not only do we know that these events themselves are purely author speculation, I also loved how Nan herself, is an unreliable narrator, recalling many scenes that she could not have possibly witnessed. A clever premise, well executed.

The Christie Affair is my favorite type of historical fiction, the kind that centers around real people and even better a writer. On Dec. 3, 1926 Agatha Christie's husband informs her that he is leaving her for his mistress, Nancy Neele. Agatha's reaction is to drive away, then abandon her car and disappear for eleven days.. She is eventually found staying at a hotel under another name, Tressa Neele.

The brilliant thing this book does is to tell the story from the point of view of the mistress.. Nan is a compelling character in her own right and having the book told in her voice adds a new dimension to the scandalous chain of events. I found that having Agatha be a secondary character in this novel gave the story a freshness and unpredictability that really worked. It drew me in and while Agatha's husband is immensely unlikeable, I grew to care about and relate to the way Nan was portrayed. The fact that much of the circumstances surrounding Agatha's disappearance and what occurred in those eleven days really allowed the author to infuse the story with her own imprint. I loved the murder mystery that is woven throughout the novel. It was the thread that really propelled the book and had me turning the pages. Overall I enjoyed this book and the way a familiar story was told was both a surprise and pleasure to read.

I was excited to get this book. However, completely disappointed by the fact that it was much more fiction that historical. Which happens to be a pet peeve of mine in historical fiction. Sorry this isn't a better review. Thanks #NetGalley for allowing me to review #TheChristieAffair.