I didn't care for the writing. It felt like there was more showing than telling. I ended up not finishing the book

Lindsay Jane Ashford has combined fact and fiction in this portrayal of a period in the life of Agatha Christie. While I knew a few facts about Christie’s life, the story flowed seamlessly between what had happened and what had not. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Curiosity led me to look up pictures of Christie and both of her husbands. If a picture paints a thousand words, the pictures I found show the underlying tension in her first marriage and the joy of her second. Good for Agatha Christie and thanks to Ms. Ashford for this enjoyable novel.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Woman on the Orient Express.

Agatha Christie, with plenty of best selling novels under her belt, needs to escape. Under the identity of Mary, she hops aboard the Orient Express, looking for a fresh start and new adventure. On her journey, she meets two very mysterious and intriguing women. The beautiful Katherine who is heading to Ur on an archaeological dig, and young Nancy who is newly married, but carrying a child that is not her husband's. In need of support and company, they make an unlikely trio who's company takes them all over the Middle East and into troubles they never could have expected.

I am actually very pleasantly surprised by this one. I've often found with books like this that I get either bogged down by too many details and characters to keep track of, or the dialogue is so cheesy. This one story was complex, but so readable at the same time. I liked learning about some of the cultures, I could really see in my mind some of the places they visited, but it moved at a steady tempo, so we never got stuck anywhere. It really was an adventure traveling on this train ride with these women.

I think my only criticism was how open ended a lot of the character's stories were left. The ending felt a bit too hastily wrapped up for my taste. But I would still happy pick up another book by Ashford.

Even though I have never read a novel by Agatha Christie, I really enjoyed this story and will probably now pick up some of her works! I loved the way the story was told and didn't see a couple of outcomes coming. Lindsay Jayne Ashford is an author I will read again!

Distraught over the break up of her marriage, Agatha Christie actually boarded the Orient Express, enroute to Istanbul and had adventures there.
This author has woven facts about Christie's life into the setting which makes this novel seem real. It was a very interesting concept and the dialogue was quite similar to how chacters speak in an Agatha Christie novels.
However, the plot seemed a little heavy handed. (I may have been spoiled, because I was reading a beautifully atmospheric novel by Daphne duMaurier at the same time.) What started out interesting, with secrets being held by everyone, kind of disolved into a romance novel and was a little disappointing to me.
I quite liked the epilogue and the afterword was very informative. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy Agatha Christie novels.

This book set me back in a time dressing up was an art form. I love the cast of characters in this mysterious, romanized novel. I would totally recommend this book.

I selected this because I love Agatha Christie. I fell in love with her writing as a teenager and was excited to read a fictionalized account of her tumultuous life. The Woman on the Orient Express doesn't disappoint. It is based on several high-profile aspects of Christie's life, such as her failed first marriage and her subsequent trip to Baghdad on the Orient Express. Despite being fiction, it manages to fill in gaps that are not only believable but seem authentic.

As noted by Ashford, these events simply form a frame for the book. The author's take at recreating the experiences Christie had on her trip and the people she encountered are frighteningly believable. Agatha is still reeling from her failed marriage and the reality of her ex-husband moving on so quickly to start a new family. Her two-month trek is meant to give her a boost in moving forward; she goes as far as to travel under an assumed name to do so. An unexpected bunk-make, Katherine, has her own secrets as she mourns the death of her husband and she takes on a new one. The trio is completed when they cross paths with Nancy, a fellow traveler who is hiding a pregnancy while she flees a controlling husband. While reading, I was constantly questioning who this Nancy was and whether she had closer ties to Agatha than initially shared. Nonetheless, reading each of their stories and seeing their lives intertwine kept me engaged.

There is a great deal of emotion in this book, not simply from the plot but also in how Ashford presents it to the reader. Agatha's grief is near-palpable, and Nancy's guilt and anxiety is always apparent. Katherine seems less bogged down, and often comes off as more together than the other two. A great driver of the story is the baby Nancy carries, from who its father is to how it will be raised.

As with most Christie books, I was fascinated with the descriptions of Agatha's travels. The distant locales are presented with rich descriptions. Everything from the meals to clothing are given vivid detail that make you forget the time period is nearly 90 years in the past. It's easy to get wrapped up in the imagery of being abroad, but it serves to provide definition to a great story.

I definitely recommend this book. It's not chock-full of drama at every turn, but that's the beauty of it. The subtle ways new details are presented or the nuanced ways aspects of the story piece together are a big part of why I enjoyed reading. It's lengthy, but worth the time.

Originally, I began reading this story confused slightly with the upcoming movie premiere "Murder on the Orient Express," which also features novelist Agatha Christie. It's almost unimaginable in this day and age to think of how people traveled back then, taking a train through Paris and around Europe all the way to India.

This was an interesting story that largely featured the friendship between three women - how that friendship came to be and how it grew. The novel also tells a lot about the struggle of being a woman, especially at a time where they were basically property.

While at times a bit boring and the narrative dragged a little, it was a well-written and intriguing book for anyone who likes historical fiction and is interested in archaeology, India or the British Empire.

The slice of fictitious life of Agatha Christie - how it could be when she had first boarded the famous Orient Express to Mesopotamia after her divorce.

Being lover of all things Agatha Christie, I think that this is quite good try in all the writings about her and/or her characters. Having read (and not liked) some horrible "new" poirots and agathas, I have quite enjoyed this one. It is not THE Agatha as I have painted her in my head and her essence (to me) is not fully catched and presented, but the authoress obviously loves her and has seriously tried to make a hommage to the beloved authoress of the both of us.
This is not a detective story, even if a mystery of some kind is presented. This is a fictititous biography in the form of the novel, slightly different that the one of the official biographies - yet on the several pages I have found myself nodding. Sure, at some different pages I was shaking my head in disagreement. But this is a sign of an interesting book - there is a reaction. You do not agree, but you wish to discuss the differences.
So - yes. This is not the five stars (I would go for solid 3.5). But I would very much like to have a cup of coffee with the authoress to discuss all things Agatha. Not a small accomplishment in my (quite opinionated and biased, I admit) books!

Oh wow I did not realize I didn't review this book it was in my top 20 of 2017. I ended up listening to it on audio. I have bought it for my library and recommend it all the time. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I enjoyed this one very much. I honestly would have loved to visit Mesopotamia and Baghdad in the 20's it sounds like it was an amazing place to visit.

Justine Eyre's narration was fabulous!

Written by a former criminologist and BBC reporter, this is a meticulously written book that is part historical novel, part fiction. It explores Agatha Christie's personal life. It's well known that Agatha Christie had a troubled marriage and left home when her husband divorced her to remarry the love of his life. In a deep depression, Agatha Christie boards the Orient Express and immediately connects with other woman who are going through emotional upheavals and long to escape their home situation. A brilliant idea to merge fact with fiction, a delightful book.

I received this novel from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was picked primarily due to cover and Agatha Christie is the protagonist here. As an Christie fan, it was initially concerned about this book. Groundless as I actually learnt more about Agatha Christie and the influence of Egypt on some of her novels.

This is a novel about secrets, Agatha Christie and two other women, Nancy and Katherine are hiding secrets. They are all traveling by train to Egypt and they meet and impact the lives of each other. Whilst it is not as nuanced as a novel by Christie would pen , Ms. Ashford creates a realistic ambience of the train as well as life in Egypt and then Baghdad. I wanted to travel just to end the foods mentioned. And this isn’t a mystery so don’t let who the protagonist lull you into a false belief. This is a story of new beginnings, secrets and love.

Enjoyable historical fiction loosely based on real events, alternating between the perspectives of three women (one of whom is Agatha Christie) as they meet on the Orient Express and travel to the Middle East.

Thank you to NetGalley And Lake Union Publishing for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.. "The Woman on the Orient Express" is a historical fictional story of Agatha Christie's trip to Baghdad in 1928, following the divorce from her first husband. This is the story of her friendship with two other women she meets on the train, with all three women carrying some sort of secret. I was really expecting more of an Agatha Christie-type mystery from this book. It turns out it is more a story about meeting friends in unexpected places, overcoming adversity and second chances, NOTE: Make sure to read the author's notes at the end of the book to get a clearer perspective on what/who is real and what is fictionalized.
Overall rating - 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I didn't know much about Agatha Christie before reading so I didn't know how much of the story was fact and how much was fiction. I was fascinated with the journey on the Orient Express and now I want to read Murder on the Orient Express.

A 5 star well deserved for this beautifully constructed story of Agatha Christie and her trip on the Orient Express. Sure to thrill any Christie fan this is both a ode to Agatha Christie as well as a enjoyable read. It is a perfect retelling of Agatha Christie trip that inspired her own successful book. I was unable to stop reading until the last page.

I really enjoyed this novel about Agatha Christie, and I am curious now about her real-life adventures in the Middle East. It has intrigued me about both the woman and her works, and I will certainly also be interested in reading more from this talented author.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ebook copy in exchange for a review.

Definitely an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I liked the final product. Christie dealing with the aftermath of her famous disappearance is a good starting point, but Ashford doesn't really do much with it. It's more used as a catalysis to meet other characters and the plot ends up really revolving more around them rather than Christie. Which would be fine, if they had been more interesting characters. Katharine started with a lot of potential, but by the end it felt like Ashford decided suddenly that she wanted the reader to really like Katharine, which resulted in an odd change of character. Katharine did some really terrible things, but they were never addressed and it felt like we were suppose to just forget them cause...I don't know...we were suppose to like her all of a sudden <spoiler>I can't believe her "outting" Christie at the wedding was NEVER addressed</spoiler>. It was random and felt out of character. And Nancy, well, she was just blah. I kept waiting for there to be more to her story, but there wasn't. Until the crazy, out of nowhere ending. That's my other problem (the characters being the first), that ending....wth. <spoiler>To be clear, I'm talking about Nancy's husband coming and being a complete psycho. </spoiler>There was no allusion to the possibility of it until it was happening. It came completely out of left field. It would have made as much sense as aliens beaming down at the end. You know, the more I write, the less I like this book. 2 stars.


**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

As a huge fan of Agatha Christie's mysteries, I was excited to get this book! After her divorce is final and her daughter goes to boarding school, Agatha has a cae of "empty nest syndrome", so she decides to fulfill a dream and ride the famed Orient Express. On the journey, she makes the acquaintance of two other women who are also travelling alone and the adventure begins.

This is based on true events, although some of the characters are fictional. It is a good read and gives insight into one of my favorite authors.

I was unsure what this book would be like. There are so many involving the time when Agatha Christie went missing, and most of them are not very good but thought i would give it a go. I was pleased i did it was an enjoyable read. It wasn't quite a 4 star for me so if i could have given it 3.5 i would have.
It is mainly fiction with some true facts and occurrences mixed into the plot. It follows Agatha on a trip on the Orient Express after her divorce from her first husband. She meets two other women who's stories unfold as they join together and become friends.
There is no murder to solve instead it is a book about a particular time where these women meet and how they help each other.
I found the ending a little unrealistic but much enjoyed the authors descriptive narrative and the characters involved.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.