On December 3, 1926 Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days after her husband informed her he was in love with another woman and wanted a divorce. What happened during those days? What caused her disappearance? There are multiple theories - revenge, publicity stunt, amnesia, grief, etc.

Nan O'Dea (based on Nancy Neele, Archie's mistress and second wife) was Archie Christie's mistress. In this book she tells her story. Why she began the affair, what her life before Archie was life, what she experienced as a young woman, and why she wanted to steal Archie away from Agatha.

Nan talks about Agatha as if she knows her and what happened and is happening in Agatha's life. It's an interesting story telling technique but left me underwhelmed at times. I loved the premise of this book. They synopsis was intriguing. But I wanted to know more about Agatha. Nan is an interesting narrator and her reasons for wanting to steal Archie away, but I just wanted something more.

Three stars means I enjoyed the book. It was time well spent even if the book didn't completely wow me. I thought the narrator of the audiobook did a good job.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is a fictionalized account of the real life disappearance of Agatha Christie. A super fun premise that didn’t land for me. I think I was thrown by the narrative structure. I enjoyed the characters, back stories, and mystery a lot but I couldn’t get past the confusing first person narrative. But a miss for me is not a miss for everyone else so if you enjoy true-“crime”, murder mystery, who-dun-it, historical fiction type books give this one a chance!

The Christie Affair is a great piece of fiction about the eleven-day disappearance of mystery author Agatha Christie, and this one is told from the very different perspective of Nan O'Dea, the woman who came between Agatha and her husband Archie.

This novel, for me, had some passages that I would rate as only 3 star--they were long and didn't seem relevant to the story. About half-way into the eleven-day disappearance, the story revs up to 4 star interest. I couldn't wait to get back to it. All in all, the novel ends on a five-star high note, with a lovely "single image that lasts forever."

Despite these comments, the audio is extremely well done and the entire book is well written. I liked the passages where the narrator would speak directly to the listener, it definitely grabs your attention. I will look for more from author Nina de Gramont. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio book of The Christie Affair.

"She doesn't remember."

Fact: On 12/3/1926 Agatha Christie drove away after her husband Archie told her he was was leaving her for another woman. The next day her car was found abandoned with her suitcase still in it. Eleven days later she was found in a hotel under the name Tessa Neele (the last name of her husband's mistress). Until her death in 1976, 50 years from that disappearance, she claimed she had no memory of those 11 days.

A real life mystery from the queen of mysteries! The Christie Affair by cleverly imaginative author Nina de Gramont imagines what happened before, during, and after those missing days from the viewpoint of Archie Christie's mistress Nan.

Nan's story in this historical fiction of the first quarter of the 20th century is a novel by itself. It includes an intense love affair, a pregnancy out of wedlock, being locked away in an nunnery with unwanted nightly visits from a horrid priest and a stolen baby.

Told in alternating chapters from Nan's past and Agatha's disappearance, which made international news, we get a twisty double murder mystery, a few salacious love affairs and a reveal that I never saw coming and admit the author got me.

Listening to the audiobook I thoroughly enjoyed narrator Lucy Scott and her many accents. I loved that I could almost see the wink when revealing Nan's secrets.

This story is a bit out there but a fun one to entertain. Personally, I think Agatha needed to get away, breathe, cry, get drunk and yell. Then come back as the refined lady she was and make a new life for her and her daughter. She did remarry, travel the world and become the most successful author in the world selling more books than anyone except Shakespeare and The Bible.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

🗯Thoughts:

I feel silly because it’s right in the title, but the perspective is that of Archie Christie’s mistress and I just cannot handle the infidelity. The more I read about Archie, the more of a shmuck I think he is

I am not one who supports an affair. It’s cheap and Ms Christie was far too fabulous to deserve that kind of treatment.

Overall, I thought it was imaginative and the writing was well done. It wasn’t my favourite retelling of the queen of murder mystery but entertaining enough!

Nina de Gramont does a spectacular job in paying ode the Queen of Crime. While following characters surrounding Agatha and her disappearance, she creates an intricate web connecting them all to each other…and Agatha. This book is cleverly written, and Lucy Scott does a fantastic narration. Looking forward to reading and hearing more from this author!

Love, longing, unimaginable pain, and of course murder, you'll find all of these things in The Christie Affair.

Some people know of the eleven days Agatha Christie spent missing in 1926, while this is a work of fiction it paints an amazing story of what could have happened thats worthy of A.C. herself.

Thinking about how the lives of the people were connected in this story give so many options for what could have happened in those 11 days.

I was not expecting the question of Teddi (I'm assuming on spelling as I listened to an audio book) and Genevieve but it made the entire book have this intensity to it that began from the first mention of the nuns to the last words in the final chapter.

My mind is still wondering though, did Agatha tell the truth in the middle or the end, who did she lie to, and why, some questions from this book will never be answered and personally I kind of love that, I get to make up my own mind and imagine the futures.

The Narrator on this one was wonderful, and while the book itself took some time to get into, it was so worth it.

The premise of The Christie Affair is loosely tied to the very sensational events of 1926 when mystery author Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven day after finding out that her husband was having an affair. The burb reads: Nina de Gramont's The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder—and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of the audiobook of The Christie Affair because of my love for historical fiction and that tantalizing mystery surrounding Christie’s disappearance during those days. The audiobook performance was good. The narrator captured the unique voices of each character and told the story in an engaging way.
I’m a little conflicted about the storyline itself. The Christie Affair didn’t so much focus on Agatha Christie and her activities during the time she was missing. The primary focus was on Archie Christie’s mistress (here she is Nan O’Dea), her past, and her activities during the same time. While Agatha Christie’s POV is included, she seems much more like a secondary character, and not a very engaging or sympathetic one. The story of Nan O’Dea is interesting and heartbreaking—one that could have held up to her own novel. Tying her so closely to Agatha Christie’s disappearance has weakened the strength of both women’s stories in my opinion.
Also, the author has woven an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery into this storyline. That in itself was a good tale, but only if you aren’t going into this book thinking its focus is on imagining Agatha Christie’s motivation for disappearing and delving into her emotions about this time period. This seems to be far more fiction than history and seems to be two completely separate novels forced into one. The overall effect is fine, it’s an entertaining novel, but not as strongly focused on the selling point (Agatha Christie’s disappearance) as I’d hoped.
The Christie Affair will be available 2/1/22.

*I received a copy of The Christie Affair from Netgalley and MacMillan Audio in exchange for an honest review*

This just didn't work for me. As a huge Agatha Christie fan, I think I went into this expecting more focus on Agatha Christie herself and her life. But the focal point was on the mistress (which it does state this is the perspective in the synopsis, so my fault for my own expectations). I can't really pinpoint why, but I just did not connect with any of the characters or the storylines, even the Agatha Christie perspective/storyline. I'm sure many readers can read and love this story, but it just wasn't for me!

I knew the bare minimum going into this book and was pleasantly surprised by the way this novel unfolded like a Christie mystery with multiple twists and secrets revealed.

What really happened to Agatha Christie for the 11 days she disappeared at the end of 1926? The book is told through the POV of Nan O’Dea, Archie Christie’s mistress and therefore Agatha’s nemesis, with a sprinkling of third person omniscient to clue us into what secondary characters are thinking.

We are shown glimpses of the past as well as the future (from the events in 1926) to better understand motivations and the complexities of why anyone does the things they do. And really, the biggest thing that is shown is to what lengths a woman will go to in order to retrieve what was lost to her - the right to love her child.

Loved this quote: “anyone who says ‘I have no regrets’ is either a psychopath or a lair”

Review
My thanks to @stmartinspress for an advanced copy of #TheChristieAffair out February 1.
Reading this novel was a very emotional experience for me. Growing up, Agatha Christie’s writing was always something I shared with my grandmother. She’d tell me this story about how when she first moved to England in the 1970s, she and my grandfather rented a house with a big library. Inside were copies of almost every novel #agathachristie had written. My grandma spent the year they lived in that house making her way through the collection.
Maybe it’s because The Christie Affair was the first novel I’ve read where Agatha herself appears as a person, but my grandma’s story kept coming to mind. Suddenly this author whom I’d cherished for so long felt real to me, and grandma returned to me, after too many years with only fading memories to remind me of her. Honestly, that is the highest compliment I could ever pay to a book. So thank you, @ninadegramont I needed your beautiful, incredibly moving novel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Macmillan audio for my copy of The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont narrates by Lucy Scott in exchange for an honest review. It publishes February 1, 2022.
Wow, just wow! To avoid spoilers of any sort, I’ll keep it vague. But if you enjoy an Agatha Christie style book, you’ll love this one! I’m desperate to read and watch some Agatha Christie stories after finishing this to keep the feeling. Well-written, interesting, frankly hard to put down. What else could you want?
One last thing, this was narrated very well!

I've seen a few movies/limited series speculating about what actually happened during Agatha Christie's disappearance but this book turn all theories on its head. It was interesting and I didn't know where it was going. It mainly takes place in two time periods and it was interesting for those two narratives to come together. Definitely recommend if you like historical fiction!

The Christie Affair comes out soon on February 1, 2022, and you can purchase HERE! I also enjoyed the narrator.

A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It's a particular feeling, the urge to murder. First comes rage, larger than any you've ever imagined. It takes over your body so completely, it's like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. It conveys a strength you never knew you possessed. Your hands, harmless until now, rise up to squeeze another person's life away. There's a joy to it. In retrospect, it's frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.

I wanted to love this story. It’s actually two compelling storylines that tend to overshadow each other. However, they probably could’ve blended together so much better if the writing hadn’t been so jumping to the point of being jarring. For example, I am good with dual or triple timelines…but when the three timelines in this book aren’t even in a coherent, chronological order. Mix all of that jumping around in time with randomly changing perspectives, it sometimes took a moment for me to orient myself in the story. Only to find out that it’s maybe now Agatha’s perspective…or really what Nan believes Agatha’s perspective to be? What? Confusing. At one point our narrator Nan even addresses how she can know these things inside someone else’s mind, but it seems like a poor effort to cover up the poor narration. There were also many plot holes but it’s hard to even put a finger on the specifics of it due to the chaotic timelines and perspectives. I feel like Nan’s story of revenge and retribution was awesome and compelling enough to be told on its own, but it was instead hung on the shaky foundation of Agatha’s disappearance and everything just ended up convoluted and diluted down into a mess.

This book was okay. I wanted to like it more but with the audio and going back and forth it was easy to get lost a bit on what was going on. I also have never read an Agatha Christie book so I honestly don’t know much about her. It was interesting none the less just didn’t push all my buttons.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I listened to the audio version and quite enjoyed the narrator. Her ability to provide humor helped set the overall tone for me.

I was not previously aware that Agatha Christie had gone missing at one point so of course the topic pulled me right in. The highly imaginative version of events by the author was well thought out and translated into a nicely paced story.

The humor and candor throughout was a nice change of pace and I quite enjoyed Agatha’s character. It spurred me on to research Christie’s life once the book had ended.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to those who love historical fiction. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC and chance to review.

I liked the narrator. I found the book to be interesting. It was more about the mistress than Agatha's disappearance. However, it was an interesting take on what when on during those days.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for my eAudio in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this arc.

It is well-known that on the evening of Friday 3 December 1926, the English crime novelist Agatha Christie vanished from her home in Berkshire. Her car was found several miles away by Surrey Police and an unprecedented manhunt started in the wake of her disappearance. It is said that arguments with Archie, Agatha’s husband, about his affair with Nancy Neele and his request for a divorce led to Agatha’s disappearance.

Based on this famous true story, Nina de Gramont creates two storylines: one for Agatha and another one for Archie’s mistress, Ms. Nan O’Dea, a fictionalized version of Nancy Neele. The story is told by O’Dea’s point of view and Agatha is more like a secondary character. As the story unfolds, the reader gets to know more about the narrator and the reasons why behind her actions. Full of twists and turns, the book is a rich retelling of this true life event.

I liked the writing style and how the author reimagined the mysterious eleven days Agatha Christie remained absent. Christie was always very vague about what happened to her those days, and de Gramont created this fascinating story with mystery and murder. Miramax TV has optioned the rights of this novel to develop and produce as a limited series and I am looking forward to watching it.

A very enjoyable historical fiction, focused on an 11 -day disappearance from multiple perspectives

MV Rating: 5/10
•I think I started on the wrong foot with this one, thinking that the story would heavily focus on a fictional account of Agatha Christie’s disappearance. It’s not - the main character is named Nan. Once I got past that, I was good to go.
• I listened to the audiobook version of this one, and feel like I missed out on many important details by listening instead of reading - a lot of the story’s thrilling timeline is lost when it’s off the page.
• Some parts of the story are pretty brutal - TW for insinuations of rape & abuse. I found myself wishing for more of a focus on the past that brought Nan into Agatha’s life, and less on the murder mystery plot of the book.
•Overall, this was a good read, and would suggest it for fans of “The Stolen Lady”.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont - 3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free copy of this audiobook. I am leaving this unbiased review independently.

As I lover of historical fiction, I enjoyed this book very much. A complicated story of multiple entangled romances, it was an interesting look at the difficulties caused by the rigid structure of society even those high up in the society have faced. While occasionally a bit difficult to follow, the incredibly intense story of Nan and her pregnancy and the vulnerable status of unmarried pregnant women had was absolutely riveting while also devastating.

I do want to include trigger warnings for the book for anyone who chooses to read it

TW: sexual assault, missing persons, dead body discovery, pregnancy, infant loss, child theft