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

This book is a fictional account of the true life mystery of Agatha Christie disappearing for eleven days in 1926. It’s narrated by her husband’s mistress. I found this somewhat disconcerting since there was no way she could have all the information about Agatha and tell it objectively. The bigger part of the book is the narrator, Nan O’Dea’s story. It’s quite a story that could be a book on its’ own. I might have enjoyed it more that way. I have read other reviews that mentioned a couple of other fictional books about Christie’s disappearance. I definitely will look into those. I chose to read this book based on it being about Agatha Christie so I was a bit disappointed. That said, the narrator’s story was great with quite a few surprises.

I was going to do 4 stars but the twists at the end had me bump it up. I never figure things out in books. So Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in December 1926. She claimed amnesia and that was that. I do not believe it for one second. Her mom had died months earlier and her husband wanted a divorce. She needed to get away for a time. Also, she used the ruse of amnesia for someone's disappearance in one of her books before her disappearance so... This story is very different because the narrator is Mr. Christie's mistress. I definitely can see why some people did not like this author's version of events but I found it fascinating how it all came together at the end. Like an Agatha Christie book, this one has a murder that also needs to be solved. The narrator also talks to the reader, which I'm sure some people don't like, but I liked it. Of course I looked up Agatha Christie's disappearance and she never said anything about it even in her autobiography. Very mysterious. While the eleven days are told through the mistress' eyes, we also go back 7 years and get the mistress' back story. I think after reading this that I would like to read an Agatha Christie book.

i had a hard time with the book. I didn't really enjoy the book because I felt it was slow, it was a DNF for me.

Real life is complicated. Thus, an episode like the mysterious 11-day disappearance of Agatha Christie nearly a century ago has given us not one, but two entertaining books. Is there room for both books in the life of a reader or does reading one sufficiently settle the issue? I would say, the more the merrier. This new release from Nina de Gramont has a dreamy quality to it. Early on the concept of lucid dreaming is introduced and at times our principal narrator seems to be carrying that concept forward into her waking life. One thing I appreciated about this book was the creativity in using Archie Christie's mistress as the primary voice. Thus we have the opportunity to view Agatha from the outside for the most part. I also loved the way the twists and turns of the plot are an homage to the many plots that we have enjoyed from Agatha Christie's pen. One note of warning: the Catholic Church, the marriage sacrament, and adoption are given some hard knocks. My rating is 3.5 rounded up.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

While the plot of this book was interesting, the way the book was written was very off-putting for me. The book was supposed to be written from the mistress, Nan's point of view. However, it seemed to flip all over the place with who was "narrating" and could change in the middle of a chapter. It was a little difficult to follow. I also found the two plot lines of Nan's past the present timeline to work against each other. I would get into one storyline only for it to change to the other on the next page. Agatha Christie was a side character in this book and I would have liked to see more about her, even if it would have been based on Nan's imagination. I liked the plot and I'm interested to see the real story behind Agatha's disappearance and to see how the events played out in real life.

This novel is ostensibly an historical mystery designed to explain Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance after learning of her husband's affair and desire to leave the marriage. But this story -- told by Archie's mistress Nan O'Dea -- is merely a device for exploring much larger mysteries, both real and imaginary. The first half of the novel is confusing. What does Nan's backstory have to do with Agatha Christie's disappearance? And is she a reliable narrator given that she did not personally witness many of the events she describes. But this confusion is worth wading through as the second half of the novel takes off like a rocket. Not only does it contain a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, but it also depicts extremely painful historical events such as the deadly effect of depriving women with reproductive rights, resulting in suicide, botched abortions, and the enslavement of young pregnant women in Irish convents whose newborns were stripped away from them by the Church. Indeed, as Archie unwittingly remarks near the end of the book, this is the "age of disappearing women" that will break your heart. 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

On one hand, I struggled to connect with any of the characters other than poor Finbar, the sole somewhat likeable one. Because of that, I struggled to stay invested in their stories, and often found myself skimming entire chapters to just get on with it.

And yet, I think the whole point was to struggle to connect with them, because they're frankly awful, doing awful things for awful reasons with awful results.

Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't, and in this case I'm honestly not sure which it is.

There are moments of brilliance, to be sure, but for the most part I found myself more interested in the stories that weren't told than the one that was. The description makes you think the story is about Agatha's disappearance, but that's not really the case. Her disappearance is simply a reason to tell Nan's story, though it takes far too long to get to any kind of point. Honestly, I'd probably have enjoyed this more if it were just two women, and not supposed to be about a real person.

Sigh.

Maybe this is one that the farther you get from it, the more you enjoy it?

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but having the perspective of the mistress in Agatha Christie's marriage to husband, Archie, was well done. An interesting and well done fictional take on the 11 day mystery.

I love everything Agatha Christie. This story is told by the voice of Miss Nan O’Dea (this would be a close characterization of Nancy Neele in real life). I love the concept of what happened to Agatha the week she disappeared. Great read!

Note to self: read the description of a book more carefully before requesting it from netgalley.
I mean, the cover was beautiful and the idea that it’s based on the time period that Agatha Christie was missing and why sounded so promising.
Even that first line was a major hook. “A long time ago in another country, I nearly killed a woman.” Intrigued, right?
Well, I am so tired of books that are about adultery and infidelity. So within the first chapter, finding out the narrator was Mr. Christie’s mistress (yes, I realize that was mentioned in the description, this the note to self) and how she spoke about their affair just rubbed me wrong.
She even says, “Perhaps you’re finding it difficult to feel kindly toward a home-wrecker such as me. But I don’t require your affection.” Uh, no kidding. I definitely don’t feel kindly toward you. And how disgusting Archie is. Both women deserved better than him.
So I suppose this book just wasn’t for me from the beginning. The writing itself was done beautifully (clearly since it brought out such vehement emotions from me) and intriguing. I just hated the subject matter.

I wanted to love this retelling of Agatha Christie’s life so much! It is hard for me to describe what my struggles are without giving away spoilers but I will do my best. The premise sounded fascinating to me. I was excited to see what the missing days of Agatha Christie could have been like. I also loved the idea of seeing it through the lens of Archie’s mistress. I felt like I got to know Nan very well. She was fleshed out and well rounded as a character. I understood her intentions as the twists happened but this cannot be said for everyone in the main cast. I wanted to see more development in the main players. I enjoyed several plot twists but I felt the structure of the novel was difficult to follow along with the narrative style. The story jumps from the past to the present, first POV to third POV, and all knowing narrator to partial knowing narrator. I had to pay extra attention just to know who was being discussed and in what way. It felt like a lot of work.

All in all to say, the mystery was good but it felt forced with all the extra storylines. The characters were interesting but under developed for me. I was happy with several twists and turns but I struggled with the plotting and writing style. I just think I might be the wrong one for this retelling.

I received an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.