I just finished reading this beautifully written novel, which imagines the true story behind Agatha Christie’s disappearance for eleven days in 1926. I thought this would be about Agatha, but ultimately it’s not Agatha’s story at all. I loved that this story focuses on Nan O’Dea, a fictional version of the mistress of Archie Christie, Agatha’s first husband. The story is told through Nan’s perspective, weaving Nan’s present and past together to create a narrative that was difficult to put down. I don’t want to say much on the story itself and spoil anyone’s journey with this book – I loved the characters and the twists the story takes along the way.

As I read, I did stop a few times to look up articles about Agatha Christie’s disappearance. Ms. de Gramont did an excellent job fitting this story in with the facts known about the disappearance. While this story is fiction, it feels as though Nan’s account really could have happened.

Highly, highly recommend The Christie Affair. It was just a beautiful, bittersweet read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of both this book and the audiobook. I liked having the ebook to re-read and highlight quotes. You can’t go wrong reading it in print or listening to the story.

Eleven days

An interesting but very different tale of the famous disappearance of Agatha Christie for eleven days in 1925. It is a mystery within a mystery. It is told by Mr. Christie's mistress, Nan O'Day.

One day Agatha packs a bag and disappears. Her car is found, but not Agatha. It is quite a brilliantly written what if of a tale of those missing eleven days until Agatha is found again.

The story is mostly written about Nan O'Day the mistress, how she came to be in England and her reason for becoming a mistress to Mr. Christie. It is quite a story and a good one at that.

I wasn't sure about the ending, I really felt bad for the Irish fellow, but I guess life move in different directions. It was quite a twist at the end and I never expected that.

I listened to the audio book and I also read the book. It was a little harder to follow than some and that helped me to figure out where I was in the book. It did a lot of twisting, turning and going back and forth between past and present time.

Nan's story was quite sad and I understood her character a bit more as the story continued. It was almost three stories, Nan's story, Agatha's story and the story of the two of them and the ending.

I did enjoy reading the story and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Nina De Gramont for writing an interesting story, to St. Martin's Press for publishing it, and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

Speculative fiction about Agatha Christie's days away is making a comeback and I enjoyed reading Nina de Gramont's take on what she thinks happened during those days. I think any mystery lovers will walk away satisfied with this read, as well as fans of historical fiction, and of course Agatha herself.

4.5 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Nina de Gramont, St. Martin’s Press. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

OMG! I enjoyed this historical fiction book and it is the first novel that I have read by Nina de Gramont. This is not a real-life explanation of the details of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926. As it was explained in the blurb at NetGalley and Goodreads, it is told from the point of view of a fictional character, but based on a real person.

There was such a spiderweb of deceit, lies, horror, and deception involved in this novel. It covers everything from the Irish Adoption scandal to WWII soldiers to adultery and to a spa hotel in England. So many diverse and creative places and stories wrapped in a totally creative license that makes an incredible story.

I know that this is a fictionalized historical novel. But it was fun to imagine where Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days. Hopefully, it was a happy ending!!

Now, I definitely need to re-read some Agatha Christie novels!!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

This is just a gorgeously written story. It has mystery and romance wrapped up in historical fiction. It tells the story of the two Mrs. Christie’s. There is Agatha Christie the author who is wife number one and Nan O’Dea the mistress who becomes wife number two. The story is told from different characters points of view and also different times. Giving the story a sort of oral presentation make it flow really well and it is easy to follow along. The characters are bold and vibrant with each setting capturing the mood just right. This is a story that will make a great book club read.

So this was NOT what I was expecting. I know very little about Agatha Christie’s disappearance,except for that one Doctor Who episode, and so I was so excited to find out more or at least an interesting tale. I got the later. This had a making of a Christie mystery, but you figured it out way quicker. I had just finished a similar type of missing person story before this so it was hard keeping them straight, but that is not the author’s fault. I loved the back and forth and the “Count of Monte Cristo” like feel the story had. And I enjoyed being right there when everything unraveled. I have another Christie disappearance book on my tbr this year, so I’m excited to see how it compares.
Solid mystery. Enjoyable characters and storyline. Recommended!

I was really looking forward to reading The Christie Affair, but the book really disappointed me. I had such a hard time staying focused with the writing style and the back and forth with the different point of views along with the different timelines. I loved the plot and the mystery building of revealing the plot was great. I just didn't care for the way it was executed. It became confusing at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You all know that I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, so when I saw this fictional story of her mysterious disappearance, I knew it was a must read for me.

Told through the eyes of Nan, Archie Christie's mistress. Archie is ready to leave Agatha and move on with Nan; but when Agatha finds out she leaves- beginning an 11 day disappearance.

Let's start with the cover, it is absolutely stunning. It has that 1920's glam that I love. I was expecting a story strictly about Agatha but this story is mostly about Nan, and what brought her into the Christie's lives. It was a daring angle from the author, as Christie fans would not be a fan of the mistress...but Nan's story is one that I could empathize with. We slowly learn Nan's backstory and connect with her as the story unfolds.

I loved how this story could have been written by Christie. The murder, infidelity, mistaken identity, and mystry of it all was classic Christie. There was a bit of a lull in the middle, but once the twist hit, I was all in. 
This is out February 1st. I recommend this to fans of Agatha and anyone that likes a historical mystery.

🕯ARC BOOK REVIEW: The Christie Affair
Author: Nina de Gramont
Page Count: 320
Publish Date: COMING SOON: February 1, 2022
3.5/5stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

TRUE STORY: for eleven days in December of 1926, the famous detective novelist, Agatha Christie disappeared. This occurred following the death of her mother and sudden request for a divorce from her husband, who was having an affair. Agatha’s car is found abandoned with a suitcase and coat in the back, and the search for her became a wide spread event, with thousands of police and volunteers looking all over the country. From there, it only gets more strange and the reality somewhat mirrors her writing. When Agatha is returned home, she chose to not speak about what happened during her time away, and claimed amnesia…

So, what really happened? I guess we will never truly know. 🧐

In this new historical fiction novel, The Christie Affair, the story of Agatha’s disappearance is told in a unique way - it is given from the perspective of the woman who broke up Agatha Christie’s marriage. Although I had been hoping the story would be more focused on Agatha, because I’m a fan of hers, somehow this worked.

The author was able to make me curious about the home wrecker, Nan, through an intriguing backstory. I didn’t like Mr. Christie’s mistress as a person at all, but could have read a book solely on her. That says something about the author’s abilities, for sure. Since the story is told from her perspective, a lot of what happened to Agatha is what Nan imagined to have gone down…not sure I liked that.

Overall, I did love that it is based on a real incident in history and molded into fiction. That’s fun.

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for this review

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

I came to this book knowing that it is historical fiction. As I read it I adapted to the fact that it's so much more fiction than historical which was fine with me. I stopped comparing what I know about Agatha Christie's real life to what I was reading. I've only read one of Agatha Christie's stories (so far) but I've been fascinated with her life and I enjoyed her depiction here.

This is Nan O'Dea's story, a fictional character very loosely based on Archie Christie's mistress and second wife. For the most part, Nan is speaking to us as she tells the story and we learn about her life from an early age. We also learn about her motivation to be a part of Archie Christie's life, even though it means being a partner in destroying his first marriage. Nan presents Agatha in a much more flattering light than Archie and if this had been a different story they could have easily been good friends, I think. But that's the fictional Agatha, I'm talking about, an Agatha that I like to pretend could have kept following the path she was on at the end of the book

The story deals with a variety of timelines and locations but they were easy for me to follow. There are two fictional men, in the story, that I liked very much. Their presence, and my hope that their brief happiness could continue, is what kept me so interested in the happenings. As Nan writes her thoughts, she knows her future and can't change the future of one of the men but allows us to imagine the future of Agatha and the other man. Of course, this only works for the fictional Agatha because the real Agatha's history is already written.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days and claimed she had amnesia. Much speculation has been made of where she was and what happened during that time. In this fictional story, we are told a complicated account of what transpired from the point of view of Miss Nan O’Day, a character based on Mr Christie’s mistress.

Having read another fictional interpretation of this event I was intrigued to compare the two. This book is amazingly original. The author chooses to create a story that makes Agatha Christie's husband's mistress the protagonist. Using this tactic, Agatha Christie is more of a secondary character instead of a primary. The book is driven by the duplicitous nature of Nan O'Dea and the decisions she makes to satisfy her goals. As a reader, I didn't find the pace entirely consistent but the book finishes at a whirlwind pace. The author could have made some better choices in transitioning between points of view and possibly have provided better explanations in certain instances. Overall I enjoyed the layers of intrigue and the love affairs interspersed throughout.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

Delightful, Wild Ride

On December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie was told by her husband that he was leaving her for another woman, a Nancy Neele. Agatha Christie hopped into her car and drove off, only to have her car discovered abandoned with her clothing and driver's license inside. Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. Finally, on December 14, 1926, she was discovered at a hotel staying under the name Mrs. Tressa Neele.

The Christine Affair is a piece of historical fiction from the point of view of Nancy Neele or referred to as Ms. Nan O'Dea in the novel. Nan has a very interesting backstory which reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale. Nan's story was so gripping that I wasn't sure why it wasn't a standalone book as Nan's story seemed to overpower the story about Agatha Christie's disappearance. The book overall was a delightful, wild ride with excellent character development and surprises along the way, and I am looking forward to reading it again.

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

1925. Miss Nan O’Dea’s plan is falling into place. She has meticulously been infiltrating the life of Agatha and Archie Christie, becoming the colonel’s mistress. Matters take an unexpected turn when the renowned mystery writer goes missing. Miss O’Dea takes the advice of her lover and lies low. But things are not what they seem and a lot can happen in eleven days.

This was not what I was expecting. I don’t know that much about Agatha Christie, but I have been fascinated by her eleven day disappearance. I was intrigued by the premise of this story: told from the viewpoint of Archie Christie’s mistress, who just might have something to do with the matter.

I would definitely call this a book with an unreliable narrator. Repeatedly, there are scenes that are from other people and it is simply Nan O’Dea’s imagining of what happened. I found this very frustrating because it was impossible to tell what was real and what was simply the narrator’s imagination.

There were several sex scenes (and rape scenes), though none of them were overly detailed. I found the plot to be overly complicated and the big twist at the end didn’t surprise me simply because I couldn’t be sure what was the “truth” in the story.

Readers who enjoy creative styles may enjoy this more than I did.

This is one of the more creative retellings about the time when Agatha Christie disappears. It was a little slow but suddenly picked up in the last third of the book. The author tells a great story, full of atmosphere.

In other books Archie’s mistress, Nan O’Dea, is a secondary character. In this book, she narrates and tells the story of how she insinuated herself into Agatha Christie’s upper class life. Why, though? Why break up someone’s marriage deliberately? The answer will surprise you. I really enjoyed this book, 4 stars.

I recommend this book, 4 stars. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

We're never going to know what really happened when Agatha Christie went missing during 11 days in December 1926. There's been much speculation but de Gramont has taken an interesting and different tack by framing the story in the words of Nan O'Dea the mistress of Christie's husband Archie. Nan is a fictional creation and she's a wow, You'll actually feel for. her (as well as for Christie, of course) and you'll be equally annoyed by Archie (so selfish). It's a good take on a well known real life mystery and a page turner despite the fact that we know the outcome. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Fact: Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days in December of 1926. We still don’t really know what happened. She was found unharmed and far away from home saying she didn’t remember what happened.

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.
❤️Nan’s backstory was so compelling
❤️The way de Gramont let her imagination run wild with the blank space of these 11 unaccounted for days in history

LIKED:
👍🏼The mini locked-room mystery plot line that took place while Nan was staying in the hotel in Harrogate. It was a nice homage to the real AC’s work.
👍🏼Inspector Chilton. He was just the perfect rough-around-the-edges but lovable policeman character
👍🏼That I didn’t catch on to the big reveal

DIDN’T LIKE:
😕Nan’s backstory and motivation was so interesting that it was nearly distracting that her lover’s wife was Agatha Christie… The Agatha Christie role in Nan’s life could have been anybody and the book would have still been interesting.
😕Because of that, some of Nan’s story, especially in present day, felt rushed to me and not fully fleshed out. The reveal was good, but not quite the pay-off I expected. No details so there are no spoilers.

OVERALL: 👍🏼 I do not need a book to be nearly perfect in order to enjoy it, and even though this one didn’t quite live up to my expectations I liked it and I’m glad I read it. Interestingly enough, Marie Benedict also recently wrote a book about the disappearance of Agatha Christie and I might have to go check that one out too.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie and books about Agatha Christie, especially ones about the great author's mysterious disappearance for 11 days in 1926. Needless to say, I was thrilled at the opportunity to read The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont.

I was intrigued that this book was told from the point of view of Archie's mistress, but apparently NOT based on the real mistress, which I found a little confusing. Nan's fictional back story, however, really added to the appeal of this book.

The story provides an entirely original reason for Ms. Christie's disappearance, and one I frankly enjoyed for her. The story itself is told with deft pacing and clever dialogue. About two-thirds of the way into the book I did feel the plot went a little off the rails seeming very implausible.

I will recommend this to fans of Agatha Christie and readers who like a good mystery.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Fictional account of the disappearance of Agatha Christie during the time her marriage to husband Archie was failing. Interesting in the fact it is given by Archie’s mistress, the next Mrs Christie. Told in 2 timelines, the actual disappearance and the backstory of the mistress Nan. I have to say I never saw it coming, this plot twist. In true Agatha fashion there is that aha moment and reveal. Thanks to net galley for an early copy. Book to publish soon.

The Christie Affair
By Nina de Gramont

What do you get when you take a real-life occurrence and mix it with creative writing? The Christie Affair-a well a written, captivating novel, which will stir your soul, especially if you are a mother. “A baby never entirely leaves a mother’s womb, traces of your baby, the very cells that comprise its living form—are always contained inside you.”

The novel is two stories entangled into one deeply moving account of two woman’s life events and circumstances that would alter their lives forever. They shared sorrow, which banded them together, even though their worlds were ultimately destroyed. I adored this book and while I wanted to find out how it would end, I was very sad when it did end. The narration of the story was done in a way that really worked well for me. The primary narrator was Nan and she was marvelous, a real hero determined to get revenge and justice for herself and others.

The story is based on the real-life 11-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in the early 1900s. Who knew? Of course, at the time there were several theories on why she disappeared, but no substantial reason was ever concluded. So, the author decides to use that as the basis for telling these two moving stories that interconnect and unfold so precisely. Agatha is married to Colonel Christie and they have one daughter- when she disappears. Colonel Christie is having an affair with Nan and plans on leaving Agatha for Nan. When Agatha goes missing, all of England appears to be looking for her, as if the Queen herself was missing. When Nan went missing in her early youth as a disgraced girl from a family that barely scraped by, she represented all similar girls who went missing, yet because it was wartime, there were not enough police in the world to set out looking for all these girls, nor would that have even been a priority.

You’ll read about Agatha’s childhood-- feelings about her marriage to Colonel Archie Christy and her thoughts about Nan.

You’ll also explore Nan and her tumultuous childhood, her one love Finbarr, her strong maternal instincts, and her desire to get revenge for the most heinous, unconscionable crime that had been bestowed upon her and several friends of hers. “Funktionslust. It’s a German word for the joy of doing what one does best. Seducing Archie, stealing him away from his wife, had a specific purpose. No other woman anywhere could touch me” The world offered no justice, so Nan set out to make her own.