As other reviewers have mentioned, this book takes a fictional look at the 11 days Agatha Christie went missing. Was it amnesia? Was it a nervous breakdown? Was it a publicity stunt? To this day, no one really knows what happened and Ms. Christie never said.

This book is told through the lens of Nan O’Dea, Christie’s husband’s mistress, which was an interesting twist. I liked this idea a lot. As the plot progresses, it takes on the feel of a Christie mystery, which was another bonus.

What didn’t quite work for me was the timeline jumps, combined with the omniscient narrator and changing points of view. I also didn’t care for all of Nan’s backstory - while it helps establish more information about Nan I didn’t always care for the detail it went into. There wasn’t an Author’s Note, which I would’ve enjoyed reading to learn more about the Author’s take on what inspired her to write this book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the gifted digital copy from NetGalley.

This novel is narrated from the POV of Nancy Neele, named Nan O'Dea in this story. I found Nan to be an unlikable character.

This novel was well written. However, the name changes threw me off. Agatha Christie's daughter was named Rosalind and I do not know if she was ever called Teddy.

It does not make sense for Archie to have two daughters named Rosalind. In real life, his daughter by Agatha was named Rosalind. In this novel, Nan had a daughter with Archie named Rosalind. Again, this threw me off.

Readers who enjoy soap opera type of stories may like this novel.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Digressing from the usual retellings, this one is from the eye of Agatha Christie's husband's mistress. Sounds cool? YAS! It was absolutely amazing that I think an audiobook of this novel would also be best listened to. I finished it in few hours because it was unputdownable.

This book revolves around Agatha Christie’s disappearance. It’s actually told mostly by her husband’s mistress, which at times could be confusing. There’s more of a mystery going on besides Agatha’s disappearance too. It does make for some interesting reading. I enjoyed the story
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I loved the narrator's voice and the way the narrative moved fluidly back and forth through time. The passages in the home for unwed mothers were grueling and I kept track of how many I had left to steel myself for the misery. The narrator's feelings were nuanced and seemed honestly rendered. I enjoyed spending time with most of the characters and would read this author again.

***Spoiler***
Blowing up the dog, Alby, was a bit much. I would have rated this a star higher if that over the top narrative choice had been left out.

CW: sexual abuse, child death, animal death

The Christie Affair takes the true disappearance of novelist Agatha Christie and imagines what happens during those 11 days. It is told from the perspective of Nan O'Dea, a fictionalized version of Archie Christie's mistress and later, his wife.

I appreciated the suspense and unexpected twists and turns; that's the positive side of completely fictionalizing an event from the past. I did not have trouble transitioning back and forth between Nan's days as a young woman and the period of Agatha's disappearance. However, after awhile, I found some of the plot points a bit outlandish, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief. I will not go into detail since I do not want to spoil it for anyone. I believe this is worth reading, especially if you are an Agatha Christie fan and/or a fan of historical fiction with strong female characters. This is the first book I have read by Ms. de Gramont, and I will definitely take a look at some of her other titles.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced e-reader copy of this book!

I'm probably one of the only people who hadn't realized Agatha Christie infamously disappeared early on in her career or that no one knows what happened during those eleven days. This book details one of many possibilities. While the title suggests it's about the Christies, but it's really a fictional account of Archie Christie's mistress, Nan O'Dea, and her involvement with the Christie family.

There are definitely many unexpected twists and turns in this book that spans Nan's life from young girl, her life during the 1st World War, until she becomes involved with Archie Christie. It's an interesting look at life pre and post WWI and the insecurities women faced during that uncertain time. I admired Nan, even though I didn't much like her. The same goes for Agatha Christie's character.

But, though the concept was intriguing, I couldn't get past the narrative style which often led to confusion. It was the first people narrative intrusion in scenes that Nan could know nothing of that put me off and pulled me out of the story.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I quite enjoyed this title. I had never heard about Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance, but I was intrigued to learn more. This title is totally fictional but enjoyable and well written. I liked the narrative from the viewpoint of the mistress/second wife and how her story wove in with Agatha's. Fun read

I really enjoyed this book. It reimagines the disappearance of Agatha Christie, and I though it was unique, insightful, thought provoking, and ultimately, interesting.

This story kept me hooked until the last page, and I thought the twists and turns were very well done. It’s a suspenseful, mystery type historical fiction, and I don’t read a lot of those. This one kept me hooked, though!

I think my favorite part of the story was how it was told. The story is told from the perspective of Christie’s husband’s lover, which is unique, angering, and intriguing all at the same time. It’s like giving someone a window into a private life that doesn’t need that window at all. I didn’t think I would like the story being told from the misstress’ perspective, but it worked. It made the story more real and raw, especially knowing the mistress is who drives the couple apart. I liked that the other woman had a lot to say in this story, and I just thought that narrative really added to the intrigue of the story.

I would definitely call this a character driven novel, and I think it highlights how cruel people can be at times. There are a lot of heavy concepts in this book, but overall, the story is really engaging.

As a rabid Agatha Christie fan who has read each of her books (including those under her pseudonym) many times, I read everything about her I can get my hands on. I have an entire Agatha Christie section in my library so was excited about another book about her intriguing disappearance in 1925. I love that it has been kept secret and enshrouded in mystique. Oh, how fun it would be to have a chatty tea wherein she spilled all the juicy details.

Though fictional, this suspenseful book of course does include some facts. It is written from the perspective of the paramour which is incredibly interesting. Her name has been slightly changed from Nancy Neele to Nan O'Dea. The portrayal of Agatha in ways is much different from how I have traditionally viewed her but this is a reimagining. Not only do we witness Nan's take during the eleven-day disappearance but we get information on Nan's background as a young girl which is fascinating. We see glimpses into Agatha's home life with her husband Archie and daughter nicknamed Teddy as well as the frantic search for her by countless police officers and investigators. Details such as her deserted car and typewriter add pieces of reality which is well done.

Some aspects of this story are believable, others less so. However, it is a frolicking and witty read with fabulous bends and turns all over the place. Well worth the read for Agatha Christie fans as well as those who enjoy unsolved mysteries.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this riveting book!

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to review this very interesting book .

Everyone that is a Christie fan knows the story of how Agatha disappeared for 11 days in the late 1920s, how her marriage to her first husband ended, and how he remarried his mistress. Well this tale is told from the perspective of the mistress as to the HOW and WHY she came into Archie Christie's life and what COULD have happened.

I enjoyed this. A different perspective. Highly recommend. Told from 2 alternative time lines which come together.

I know I'm in the vast minority here but I was disappointed by this one... I've read some of the things, both fiction and nonfiction, about the disappearance. There is drama plenty there, with secrets and affairs and amnesia, so I certainly understand that it offers fertile ground for fiction. Yet still much of this version felt unnecessarily overly dramatic to me...

I really did not like Nan as the protagonist, both as a character and narrator. I found the shifts between first and third person and the omniscient narrator in both voices to be a storytelling style that I found difficult to fall into. While I had empathy for the series of unfortunate events that comprised her life, I still somehow found her an unsympathetic character and the combination of her and Archie was almost too much to bear...

This one just wasn't for me.

It took some time to get used to the omniscient narrator and the alternating between first and third person story line. But it was worth the effort. This book was engaging and well written and offers an interesting and unusual explanation to Agatha Christie’s disappearance. Well done!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Christie Affair. I must start off by saying that I am a fan of Agatha Christie and have read every book she ever wrote.
I have also read several books with carrying theories of what happened in the 11 days that Christie went missing.
de Gramont has spun a different theory that is more mysterious and apropos to Christie herself.
Written from the perspective of Nan, Christie's husband, her disappearance is related to a long standing secret that only Nan has the key to.

Lost love, mystery, and revenge are all explored in this well-written book.

I was sorry when it ended

This was a very interesting book. I have read other books about the mysterious disappearance of Mrs. Christie, but I liked this one best. While it surprisingly focuses more on "the other woman" in the relationship between Agatha Christie and her estranged husband Archie, it nevertheless offers a fascinating insight into what might have happened during those days that Agatha just "forgot."
At first I was surprised that the whole story was "told" by Nan, Archie's mistress. But as the story unfolded it was a bit fascinating to see how Nan shared her "perspective" on the events leading up to Agatha's disappearance, as well as what exactly happened while Agatha was missing. I was also completely drawn into the book as Nan revealed how she ended up on the verge of marriage with Archie and why she felt the need to marry him.
In the beginning the book felt like it would be a mystery about Agatha's disappearance. Then, about 1/3 of the way through, the book became more about Nan and her history. The "mystery" aspect of the book fell by the wayside a bit, but the threads of Nan's story kept me very interested in the book. Then, after finishing 2/3 of the book, everything fell completely in place, and I said, "Ahhhh! Wow." The mystery part of the book picked back up a little, and all of the threads came together to really weave a compelling tale. The twists and turns which had in the beginning of the story seemed random or off-hand were actually terrible important.
If you are looking for a thrilling take on what happened to Agatha Christie when she disappeared, or a suspense-filled mystery, this probably isn't the book for you. But if you enjoy Mrs. Christie's books, like a slow-burning mystery, and want to read more about what could have happened in her life, I would recommend this book. I did enjoy it.

I can not recommend this book enough! I read The Christie in one day. This book will be one of best books of 2022.. I appreciate net gallery and selected publishers for this early copy

Anything to do with the wonderful Agatha Christie I am drawn to like a moth to a flame. The mystery surrounding her 11 day disappearance has intrigued so many that this is actually the second book I’ve read on the subject. I love the speculation. This book stands apart because the other did a wonderful job putting this from a different perspective. The story is told by Nan, Archie Christie’s mistress and later second wife. The affair came out during this time and making her a human not a villain was a tall order the author did well. Wonderful book highly recommend.

I loved this story! Growing up, my mom always had an Agatha Christie book on her nightstand. She had read them all. This book tells a plausible story about what could have happened during the author's mysterious disappearance for 11 days in 1926. I felt the hand of Agatha Christie in this book-- some of it the style of writing, some of it the setting. It's a great story full of star-crossed lovers, jealousy, murder, and lies. The characters are intriguing-- and while the story is told from the point of view of one person, Miss Nan O'Dea, she fills in parts of the story that she may not have witnessed but help to tell the WHOLE story. Be prepared for some twists and turns and a beautiful tragic love story and unlikely friends.

I LOVED this book! The dual timeline was so entertaining and then tied together even more perfectly than I could have imagined. In a perfect world this is where Agatha Christie was when she disappeared. I didn’t even know about her disappearance but now I want to know and read everything surrounding it. I fell in love with the characters and all of their flaws! Did I mention I LOVED this book?

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this early. It is going to be a BEST SELLER for sure!!

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR is a fascinating historical novel with well-researched period details and a suspenseful plot.

I previously read The Mystery of Mrs Christie by Marie Benedict, and enjoyed it as well.

This novel focuses on Nan, Mr. Christie's mistress. It's a fresh perspective and I enjoyed getting to see how Nan viewed Agatha.

The writing is very strong, although for some reason, I wish the story had been told in third person versus first. I don't usually mind first person, but here it felt slightly jarring or self-centered at times, especially since it's clear de Gramont is a master storyteller. If the author had used third person, it's my opinion the novel would have been even stronger (and more traditional, befitting the time period).

I was a little surprised at how much of Nan's backstory we got. She had quite a traumatic past. While the portions of the narrative that explore her past are certainly interesting, at times they took away from the urgency of Agatha's disappearance.

The ending, while it does not wrap everything up in a neat bow, felt right for the story.

Overall, this is an extremely well done historical novel by an immensely talented writer.