This book was very intriguing and surprising! I really enjoyed the twists and turns and the writing style!

The Christie Affair was totally not what I was expecting when I opted to read it. I was looking forward to hearing the author's approach to where Agatha Christie was during her 11-day hiatus. The book does explore this, however, the story is told mostly from the viewpoint of Mr. Christie's mistress, Nan O'Dea. The story of Nan's past is the main premise of the book. The blurb does clearly state the book is about Nan. The misunderstanding was clearly my own.

Getting familiar with the author's writing style was difficult for me. The Christie Affair is told from differing viewpoints. I found it confusing to know when they switched. I love short chapters, and The Christie Affair had some very long chapters. The viewpoints would switch by paragraph in some places. Had I only read the first half of the book, I would have rated it three stars.

I am so glad I did not give up on this book! The Christie Affair does get better, and there are some nice twists you may not see coming! Overall, I would rate the book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

I know very little about Agatha Christie -- haven't read her books, watched a few movies, that's the extent of it. With Nina de Gramont's exceptional THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR, I am a transformed reader. Somehow Gramont has answered questions surrounding Christie's 11-day disappearance from the point of view of the other woman who stole her husband and blew up a predictable, comfortable, and anticipated life. Not only does she share the events that shaped profoundly unlikable person and rendered her softer, relatable, and admirable with immovable resolve. Ultimately, the book is all about love, for one's child, one's life, one's purpose, one's lover -- set within the years following the Great War and the scourge of influenza, the story immersed me in the trials, triumphs, and social milieu. I stayed up way too late reading this, at times confused between point of view and realizing it didn't matter that much -- such a rich, rewarding, insightful, beguiling read! I received an early reader copy of this novel and the opinions expressed are my own and are unbiased.

On the surface, The Christie Affair is about what happened to Agatha Christie during her 11 day disappearance. What we get is Nan O’Dea’s story, Archie Christie’s mistress. It starts in the present day, with Archie finally leaving Agatha and then Agatha disappearing. As the story goes on we learn about Nan’s past, mixed in with the present day events, which are told from Nan’s point of view - basically what she thinks happened to Agatha.

This story is a blend of historical fiction and mystery that includes a love story. Lots of twists and turns to this one. And while reading about Nan’s life was interesting, I would have liked more of Agatha’s POV.

The Christie Affair is out on February 1. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have to admit…I really could not get into this book. It literally took me six months to read it. I kept putting it down in favor of other books then picking it up again, only to give up and read something else. There were moments in the story that were intriguing to me, but so often the construction was awkward, causing me to have to re-read to figure out what the author was actually saying.

I even made a note of the first time I felt like the book was finally making a bit of sense…almost a quarter of the way through it. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. One of the problems for me was that it was written in first-person omniscient, so Nan O’Dea told the story, but that character described what everyone else was doing and thinking and feeling, and it was confusing at times and kind of annoying to me.

It was an interesting idea for why Agatha Christie disappeared and then never spoke about what went on during those missing days, but I honestly can’t effusively recommend it. I’m going to give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. If you really want to read it, I’d recommend borrowing it from the library.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me a digital copy for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own! 🙂

I generally enjoy reading and watching different ideas on what happened for those 11 days when Agatha Christie went missing but unfortunately this take on it wasn't for me.

Audiobook was wonderful! Great narration and an interesting look into one of the biggest authors most private moments.

What did I like? I’m not vapid enough to care about those illicit missing eleven days. Hard enough to deal with a scandal with her husband cheating on one of the greatest literary minds ever. The book takes some twists and turn through some of Agatha’s reasoning and the child’s parentage speculation. All very thought provoking but a painful story.

Would I recommend or buy? No, it gave me some awful feelings for Agatha and those eleven days will remain a mystery despite speculation. The book tries to breach beyond that but I myself could not.

I received a complimentary copy to listen to or read and voluntarily left a review.

I really loved this story by Nina De Gramont. It was well written and had me glued to my seat. The story was easy to follow, This was my first book of hers to read and I will definitely recommend this story to others.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

The Christie Affair delves in to the infamous 11 day disappearance of Agatha Christie which turned into a massive manhunt .

The Christie Affair offers an unique version of what happened in those 11 days and it is told by the Nan who is as they say "the other woman".

The book combines, history, mystery and various view point throughout.

We will never know what actually happened but Nina de Gramont has offered a plausible explanation and one that is entertaining to read and consider.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an intriguing read.

Pub Date: 2-1-2022

“Some people are just born happy. I think that’s the luckiest thing. If you’re sunny inside, you never have to worry about the weather.”

In 1926, Agatha Christie drove away from her home and wasn’t seen again for 11 days. Once she was found, Agatha said that she couldn’t remember what happened. And to this day, no one knows for certain.

Before the disappearance, the story is told only from the perspective of the mistress of Agatha’s husband (Archie). During the 11 days where Agatha Christie was missing, the story adds Agatha’s perspective too.

Somehow this book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. Garmont took a lot of liberties as far as what Agatha was really doing during her disappearance, but I liked it. I found almost all of the characters very likable, and the little murder mystery dropped in was a lovely nod to Christie.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly solve a crime I hadn’t invented. The point of a good detective story is to make it all obvious. You throw in enough variable so the reader doubts his own solution, then at the end he can be pleased with himself for figuring it out.”

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the Advanced Readers’ Edition!

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I was drawn to The Christie Affair due to it being another book about the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie, a topic I had read about last year in another historical fiction book. And the fact that this one further leaned into the messiness of the situation by telling it from the perspective of Archie Christie’s mistress, Nan, also appealed to me.
But the execution was a bit mixed for me. I think part of it is that, whatever else she was as a person, Agatha Christie was clearly the injured party, so it takes a lot to sympathize with the other woman who brazenly inserts herself in a married man’s life, even if it does “take two to tango.” Nan clearly has no sympathy toward Agatha upon taking up with her husband, and spins a wild narrative about who Agatha is and what happened to her. At first I wasn’t sure what was happening, because it felt like the reader was in Agatha’s head, but as it became clear these were Nan’s imaginings, I felt dismayed at the lengths she went to to justify her position, especially as while Agatha has a lot going for her, it still didn’t mean Nan was any more sympathetic.
The timeline is also super confusing, and while I was able to follow it after a while, between that and the weird narrative voice choices, I found myself frequently feeling lost.
I think this book is well-intentioned, but didn’t do enough to overcome the lionized reputation of Agatha Christie the author, which is likely to be the biggest draw for most people reading. However, it is an intriguing book and I appreciate what it is trying to do, especially given that a couple authors have explored the topic before.

Having read Marie Benedict’s book “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” I was interested to see how Nina De Gramont would handle the story from the viewpoint of the “Mistress”, Nan O’Dea. Point and counterpoint - not so much. This is mostly Nan O’Dea’s story with fairly shallow digging into the mystery of Agatha Christie’s disappearance in December, 1926. Which is not to say that this isn’t an interesting story, it just isn’t going to move any understanding of the actual disappearing act further along.

The writing is beautiful, soft and rich. De Gramont captures the time, period and mood perfectly. The story is well conceived if not what I was expecting. The depiction of Nan O’Dea is drawn allowing the reader to attach subjective praise or criticism and either would be valid. While the havoc Nan O’Dea wreaked upon the Christie relationship was despicable, sympathy for O’Dea’s situation was not unreasonable either. De Gramont leaves room for this dichotomy of emotions as to what is fair given the historical circumstances. And there is the rub - to make sense of this story you now have to set aside Agatha Christie as a main character and see her as a mere foil in the telling of Nan O’Dea’s tragic history and what she perceived as her necessary insertion into the Christie’s relationship.

I wonder … if the final few pages had been incorporated into the first few pages …would the telling be truer and alert the reader to be prepared for a good story but not the story we thought we had been promised. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy.

The Christie Affair was a good read by Nina de Garment. This book reimagines the unexplained eleven day disappearance of Agatha Christie that captivated the world. This book is told from the point of view of Miss Nan O’Dea. She is a fictional character that is based on a real person. In 1925, she infiltrated the world of author Agatha Christie and her husband Archie. Nan becomes Archie’s mistress. Why did Nan make herself a part of the Christies world? What did it have to do with the eleven days Agatha Christie disappeared. You get taken back in time to Ireland, to a young woman in love, and to the time before The Great War. You meet Nan and the man she’s destined to be with, until war, pandemic, and shameful secrets tear them apart. What drove Nan to seek vengeance, destroy a woman’s marriage, and murder. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more by the author.

This is told from the perspective of Archie Christie’s mistress Nan O’Dea. It makes for an interesting storyline. Nan is an unapologetic home wrecker, and you want to hate her. Yet I don’t, I wouldn’t say I like her, but I don’t hate her either. I thought this book was about a disappearance, or even about a love triangle. And on the surface it is, but when you look deeper, it is actually shinning a light on women’s reproductive rights. The true story is telling of the loss inflicted on women in the early 20th Century, when their bodies were not their own. And how when there was an unexpected and socially unacceptable pregnancy, what a woman faced and the unexpected ways it could change her life.

I am torn on this book. As a piece of historical fiction, it is engaging and well-written. De Gramont has clearly done her research, and it is a strong piece of hist-fic, with a mystery included to boot.

However, it really has little to do with Agatha Christie, and anyone could have been subbed in for Christie. I do recognise that marketing often falls under the publisher rather than the author, but I do feel misled with this book. I didn't expect Christie to be the main character, but I didn't expect her to be nearly irrelevant.

I have only the barest understanding of Agatha Christie's life, so when I looked up her disappearance after I finished reading, I was surprised at how much of the story is grounded in truth, even if the core is ultimately fictional.

The first part of this was mildly enjoyable but felt like it was missing some spark. However, the last fourth was actually quite solid and changed my perspective of the whole book. Though I enjoyed the ending a lot, I wanted to like the book more than I actually did. It felt like the pacing was a bit uneven, and it took time to adjust to the way the story was told from Nan's perspective.

Overall, a fun read that I wanted to like more than I did.

Wow I loved this book,. It’s a fictional take on what happened leading up to Agatha Christie’s disappearance and what transpired those days she was gone. The story weaves a tale of mystery with a mistress to Archie narrating the events through her eyes which includes a hidden past . I loved how all the characters interacted in this story and while figuring some parts out early on I was surprised at others. The story flows well and I found myself not wanting to put it down.

I received a free copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own. I would recommend this book to friends, family, book club members .

3.5 stars The Christie Affair takes the reader on a journey back to the brief time when Agatha Christie went missing. Agatha Christie’s husband has been having an affair with Nan O’Dea, and now he’s decided to ask for a divorce. As a result, Agatha goes missing.

The story for the most part is being narrated by Nan, the mistress and her point of view; however, the point of view shifts unexpectedly and sometimes confusingly throughout. Also, while most of us readers really want to hear what happened to Agatha, we mostly hear about Nan. I was a bit disappointed to have to read so much about what Nan went through. By the end it becomes clearer why Nan’s story was important, but I can’t say that I was as interested.

I think the title and synopsis set up expectations that this book would be more focused on Agatha Christie which is not truly accurate. It’s not a bad book, but it wasn’t what I had hoped it would be.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR
BY: NINA DE GRAMONT

About a 4.5 stars.

This was a book that I was so excited to read because I love books about famous Author's. This wasn't in the book but, I am adding it because it was a fact that I didn't know until recently; It is that Agatha Christie has sold more books than any other Author. Back to this book. Agatha Christie and Archie Christie both share the same initials and called each other A.C. It is based on the eleven day disappearance of Agatha Christie in December of 1926. Agatha is just in the midst of grieving her mother's death when her husband Archie tells her he wants a divorce.

When I first started this I thought that this was going to be a Five star read. It drew me in right away and the writing is engaging. What was disappointing was that most of the book is about Archie's mistress the fictional one called Nan O'Dea. I understood why the author chose to do what she did by the end of the book. I have to be honest though, I was hoping it was going to be more about the Christie's and less about his mistress's back story. It was disappointing because I didn't really seem interested in the mistress's back story. I did give this 4.5 stars, but it was more like a four star reading experience for most of it--but it is worthy of 4.5 after finishing it. It is entertaining when Agatha is involved in the various scenes and that was in the very beginning and towards the last section. In all fairness to Nina de Gramont I can't blame her for choosing to have more Nan than Agatha. It is an excellent book and I am so grateful to have read it. It is my fault for expecting something and assuming it was more Agatha oriented. Any way maybe I can say that Agatha did turn out to be more successful based on her book sales being as being the most sold. Maybe I have issues with cheating or a woman stealing someone else's husband. But most likely if there is a mistress it isn't just her fault. The husband should be held more accountable for lying and sneaking because we all know that they all have the same story to excuse what they do if they do it. So it definitely wasn't all Nan's fault why I was less engaged. I just didn't find her life as interesting. But it was overall a great reading experience when I reflect on all of the book as a whole rather than what I was hoping it would be. I usually enjoy a book the less I know about it. So I take full responsibility for my rating.

I might have liked it more if the mistress's back story was more interesting, but for me it just wasn't. I realize that this is historical fiction, but I like to learn things when I read it. Agatha seemed like such a nice person and it is so unfortunate that she had that done to her and I mean a husband whom you love cheat on you while you are living together thinking you are in a happy marriage. In this narrative Agatha is only thirty-six and I suppose if the husband you love is going to cheat it is better to be young and still beautiful. In this story she is ten years older than Nan.

This isn't spoiler territory to reveal that Nan was present when Agatha announces to Archie with Nan in the room and she tells him to that there is a lunch planned with her new literary agent. Archie tells Agatha that he can't attend because he has a mountain of work to do. Agatha being the good person that she is and also polite invites Nan to go. Agatha says that they will make it a girls' luncheon. And off they go.

This was a very clever endeavor and if it wasn't I wouldn't have been so excited to read it. The last part of the book made me understand why it was formatted and plotted the way it was. I did enjoy it very much and recommend it to mystery lovers. There is a murder and Agatha isn't as well known during this time frame. It seemed that everybody was searching for her all over England. It was well written and I would be interested in reading whatever this Author chooses to write about next.

Publication Date: 2-1-2022

Thank you to Net Galley, Nina de Gramont and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheChristieAffair #NinadeGramont #StMartin'sPress #Net Galley

In THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR, Nina de Gramont gives us her imagined account of those 11 days told through the eyes of Mr. Christie’s fictional mistress, Nan O’Dea. (Now, Nan is fictional, but apparently, it was no secret that Agatha Christie’s first husband was a bit of a philanderer).

Loved: Nan as the narrator. What an interesting perspective to have Mr. Christie’s mistress as the narrator and focal point of the story. Due to her role, she’s a bit of an unreliable narrator and you wonder what she’s getting at the whole time. Also enjoyed Nan’s backstory- it was so compelling. And the way de Gramont let her imagination run wild with the blank space of these 11 unaccounted for days in history