E-arc gifted by NetGalley and Pan Macmillan.

I think this novel suffered a little from being marketed as a mystery novel in the synopsis on NetGalley, and also all the hype I had seen online on this book focused on the mystery of where Agatha Christie disappeared to, but we know this as a reader from early on. This is really more the story of Nan O’Dea and her struggles to end up where she does (with ostensibly her child).

I think if you like historical fiction novels this one could be for you. Personally though I was hoping for a little more mystery (though I got some murder!). Between that and quite a confusing and meandering narrative (sometimes the protagonist starts speaking as herself and then someone else’s narrative starts the page later, but as both voices use “I”, this can be a bit difficult to follow) this just wasn’t quite for me. I also found it hard to believe (though we get a bit more evidence in the last pages) the final twist.

I do think this will be liked by historical fiction readers though, and I think the latest hard copy ARC covers I have seen with the 20s dress, and a less mystery focused synopsis (rather than the newspaper style cover or gloves cover) means that hopefully this book will find its right readership!

Beautifully Crafted…
A beautifully crafted mystery and a reimagining of what lay behind the disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926. With a wonderfully drawn cast of characters and a perfectly described setting this is bursting with the atmospherics of the age and provides a sweeping yet solid and satisfying tale. Elegantly written and cleverly compiled. A hugely entertaining read.

I feel quite conflicted about The Christie Affair. I’ve long been a fan of Agatha Christie (about 25 years) and have found her own 11-day disappearance in December 1926 truly intriguing.

When I heard about Nina de Gramont’s upcoming novel reimagining this episode, I was thrilled to get an early copy on NetGalley.

The thing is, Agatha never spoke about this incident and put it down to no memory of what had happened.

What Nina does is takes the reader on a tale predominantly of Nan, the woman who was having an affair with Agatha’s husband, Archie. (Archie did go on to marry Nancy Neele).

You get several timelines and character perspectives - mainly Nan’s and her upbringing in England and Ireland: her romance with Finbarr; and her world collides with Agatha’s. Nan is determined and won’t stop until she’s achieved what she wants, at whatever cost.

You get fictional glimpses of Agatha’s internal thoughts and where she ended up in Yorkshire (that bit is true with Harrogate). You also get a double murder which is connected to a particular backstory.

The Christie Affair is well written, structured and paced but….

Part of me was swept up by the creativity of this reimagination of this moment in time, this mystery but part of me felt, leave it be. Don’t explore. Don’t make out Agatha had a fling with a police inspector while in Harrogate. I wouldn’t blend fact and fiction.

At the end of the day, I’m glad I’ve read this but I ultimately think let sleeping dogs lie and leave the Queen of Golden Age Crime to her own personal mystery.

What happens when the weaver of mysteries becomes a mystery herself?

When Agatha Christie goes missing in 1926, it causes a sensation and becomes front-page news. It is “as if the Queen herself were missing”, says one character. But little do the police and the press know that those aiding and abetting her have their own secrets and reasons for lying low.

What amazed me was how much of the novel is based on Christie’s real life. She did, of course, disappear from her own life, blamed at the time on loss of memory. Her car was discovered parked above a chalk quarry. She did have a daughter. Her husband did have a mistress called Nancy. The overt mystery – Christie’s disappearance – is more easily explained as we get to know her husband Archie, whom this reader was quite happy to see put through the mill!

But on these bare bones, Nina de Gramont builds a clever, complex story with several strands effortlessly interwoven: we have the parallel story of Nan O’Dea, searching for the child she lost in one of Ireland’s notorious homes for unmarried mothers; we have the love story of Nan and Finbarr; we have a quest, as WWI survivor Inspector Frank Chilton looks for Christie; and we have a mystery – whose child is Teddy?

The author is a fabulous storyteller and I look forward to reading more of her work. Anyone with even a passing interest in Christie – or indeed none at all – can’t help but be entertained.

I will be very happy to post this review on Amazon etc as soon as I am able to do so.

The Christie Affiar by Nina de Gramont is a historical fiction / mystery novel based on the disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926.

The story is told through Nan O'Dea, Archie Christie's mistress, and follows both women in the lead up to the disappearance, the 11 days and afterwards.

Nan is at first an unlikable character, but as her past, heartbreaking history unfolds you realise why she is the way she is and why she is so desperate to be with Archie Christie. By the end of the story I really felt for her.
Agatha is exactly how a 1920's lady should be, but I did love her moments of emotion and vulnerability.
Both women are the heroines of the story.

Agatha and Nan develop an unexpected alliance and I enjoyed watching their (admittedly strange) relationship grow.

As well as discovering where Agatha was, Nans back story and past relationships there are also murders, mystery and romance....which there has to be wherever Agatha Christie is involved.

The story is beautifully written, utterly captivating and sets the time and place perfectly. It is well paced throughout and no parts felt like they were dragging.

I felt the ending, although poignent, is very just and fitting for both characters.

If this is something you didn't already know, Agatha Christie did disappear for 11 days in 1926 and it remains a mystery to this day where she was in those days. She did divorce Archie Christie shortly after her return and he did go on to marry Nancy Neele.

A while ago, during the hubbub and excitement surrounding the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, lots of my fellow book bloggers got their hands on The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont, and as soon as I read the premise I wanted to read it!

Thankfully NetGalley granted my wish!

The Christie Affair reimagines the true, eleven day mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 which stunned the world. The story is told by Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Christie’s husband. She escapes a tough London upbringing only to face tragedy in Ireland, before fighting her way home and setting her sights on Captain Archie Christie, only he is not all she wants…

This book captivated me. The style, the writing, the substance, I found all of it to be effortless.

I was intimidated by the length of this novel, it being 690 pages, and yet I barely noticed as I was carried away by Nan’s tale. A refreshing character, Nan is neither heroine nor villain, flawed but painstakingly human in her actions.

As the novel progressed more emotion and more depth were revealed. What I felt on the surface was going to be a fairly superficial story about a love affair gave way to something a lot more heartfelt and nuanced, with a lot more substance.

Nan narrates the story, but also tells you HER story, and it’s one of love, tragedy and determination. You can’t help but respect her, and Christie herself is painted as an ally to Nan, when on the surface you believe they should be at odds with each other.

I am a huge fan of thriller and crime fiction, and enjoy Christie’s novels which is what drew me to this book, but I often expect non-thrillers to have to fight to keep my attention. Not in this case, as I happily engaged with the story and found it to be pure escapism.

With strong themes of love, loss, war, revenge and justice, I found this to be a powerful novel, and one I would definitely recommend. The impact and after effects of war are poignant and sad, and you can easily get caught up in the ‘what if’s’ of these characters, had war not impacted upon their lives.

Whether you’re a Christie fan or not, let yourself get swept up in this incredible, original tale of her mysterious eleven day disappearance.

As a massive Agatha Christie fan, the 11 days that Agatha Christie went missing in 1926 has always intrigued me. I have read two other books this year that fictionalize what happened to Agatha during those 11 days, so I was excited to read what the author, Nina De Gramont, would come up with.
This book is told from the perspective of Nan O’Dea, Archie Christie’s mistress. Admittedly, at the start of the novel I was a little confused as Archie’s mistress was Nancy Neele, not someone called Nan O’Dea, and I was also expecting the story to be told from Agatha’s perspective. Once I got over this, I enjoyed the story and found Nan to be an engaging lead.
I agree somewhat with some of the other reviews that wanted more ‘Agatha’ in the story, but I also think that the author created an intriguing character in Nan. I found it to be an enjoyable read and I think it would be good for book groups as there are plenty of themes to discuss.

The Age of Disappearing Women ★★★★★

In 1928, Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. When she was found, she claimed amnesia. This is the story of what really (might have) happened.

Taking the bare bones of the real life mystery, Nina de Gramont weaves a clever, pacy, and emotional story from the viewpoint of Nan O’Dea, Archie Christie’s mistress. Unlike an actual Christie novel, the taut plot gives the reader a chance of guessing some of the twists and turns if we stay sharp.

As the two women hide out in Harrogate, the spectres of Nan’s tragic past and her real motivations for stealing Archie from his wife gradually come to light. Nan isn’t here for Agatha; she’s here for revenge.

The characters are three dimensional and original; both Nan and Agatha are real women suffering and acting in different ways to survive a man’s world.

The massive search for Agatha Christie – over a 1000 policemen across the country – is the impetus for the novel. Yet, as Nan tells us, the age of disappearing women did not begin with Agatha. Women and girls have always quietly disappeared and either quietly returned or never returned at all.

This is a story of abandoned women and of justice; a sleek and intriguing crime novel steeped in love, hate, and revenge.

Absolutely fascinating! Agatha Christie's disappearance has always been a source of fascination to me, and this book is a well-researched imagining of what those eleven days held for the Queen of Crime. It's such a uniquely told story through Nan's voice, and the pandemic plot point is both historically accurate and currently relevant. Honestly, such a powerful and gripping novel. Thank you so much for the ARC!

As a big Agatha Christie fan, I was really looking forward to reading this. And like many Christie fans, the whole mystery of her own 11-day disappearance has always fascinated me. But I was left disappointed. There is a good story here but I just wanted much more Agatha and a little less Nan. Thanks to #NetGalley and Pan Macmillan/Mantle for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

This was a book I was really looking forward to having read all the Christie books and being a fan for many, many years. Sadly I have mixed feelings about the story and the way in which Christie is portrayed. Not sure her family would be enamoured either!

The book is loosely based on the mystery surrounding Agatha’s disappearance just before Christmas 1926. As no reason was ever given by Christie for this period in her life, theories and explanations have always been rife. The story is told from the point of view of Nan O’Dea, who, in this story is the mistress and subsequent second wife of Archie Christie. I think she may be based on Nancy Neele, his real second wife, which I bet her family are thrilled with!

This is a different slant on that time, a complete other story with fictional characters and events.

I think if this had been written as a revenge, murder, mystery, love story book then it would have been very good. As it is, using real life events and making up a story around that time seems like jumping on the ever popular Christie bandwagon.

I did finish the book though it was a struggle. Would not recommend to any true Agatha Christie fans.

Thank you NetGalley.

This was an incredibly absorbing and moving novel revolving around the mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926. Even today all that is known for sure is that Christie was found in a Harrogate checked in under the name of her husbands mistress 11 days after her car was found abandoned near her home. This novel is written from the perspective of Nan O'Dea, the mistress and how the two women became unlikely allies in this mystery. Nan has always wanted to be a writer just like Agatha so can she be a reliable narrator of the events that unfolded.

It has all the elements of a Christie novel, a murder, a mystery and an unusual love story. This is a work of historical fiction that pays homage to the genre.

Nan is an expectedly sympathetic character and I was gripped until the end.

Agatha Christie famously went missing for eleven days in the winter of 1926 and was eventually found in Harrogate after a nationwide search. When she was found it was reported that she was suffering from memory loss. At the press did speculate the possible reasons of why she may have disappeared, but Agatha never spoke of it.

Nina de Gramont’s ‘The Christie Affair’ chronicles Agatha Christies lost eleven days in Harrogate from the perspective of Nan, Agatha Christie’s husbands mistress. The story is as much about Agatha as it is about Nan and how their stories intertwine.

I completely bought into the conceit of the book and really enjoyed this possible version of Agatha’s lost eleven days!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for making an ARC available to me for a fair and honest review, and also for introducing me to Nina de Gramont’s books.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand the plot was quite intriguing and I enjoyed the way all the stories connected at the end, however there was very little Agatha Christie in the book and of what there was it seemed to put a bad name on both Agatha and Nan by making up a story of what happened when the real Agatha went missing in 1926.
If the story didn't include Agatha and was simply a detective story with interconnecting links, this book may have been more enjoyable without me constantly thinking about the poor portrayal of one of the most famous detective writers to exist. It was quite hard to separate real life and fiction with this one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Pan Macmillan and Netgalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.

This was Tsundoku Squads September read, our 9th together. We were quite excited for this one, especially as a few of the group are big Agatha fans. I’ve actually only read one Agatha myself but had heard about her disappearance and it intrigued me.

I’m sad to say I found myself not really enjoying this one much. I think we all agreed we were expecting more Agatha and really this could have been a story about Nan and not even mentioned Agatha at all. I enjoyed parts of Nans story, but didn’t like her from the start knowing she was having an affair with Archie, Agathas husband. I admit I skim read he last half maybe, after not getting on with it much at all.

I have heard good things from others though so please don’t let me put you off!

Thanks again to Pan Macmillan, Nina de Gramont and Netgalley for my review ebook.

I love crime novels - especially Agatha Christie's - so jumped at the chance to read this fictionalised account of the period during 1926 when Christie disappeared for 11 days. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy of this book, to be published in January 2022.

As Agatha Christie never revealed where she went in those missing 11 days, Nina de Gramont has plenty of scope to imagine a plot every bit as twisty as Christie's own novels. This one is narrated by Nan O'Dea, mistress to Christie's husband, Archie. The story becomes one of Nan's own past and personal tragedy - an Irish lover and a dark secret - that has ongoing repercussions for all involved.

This isn't the first time that a book has focused on this mysterious period in Christie's life - I enjoyed Andrew Wilson's 'A Talent for Murder' and I have my eye on 'The Mystery of Mrs Christie' by Marie Benedict. These might be a good next stop if you finish 'The Christie Affair' wanting more!

As for me, there was lots about this novel that I loved. The mystery set in the hotel was cleverly done and I enjoyed this strand of the book; it certainly felt closest to Christie's own style and the pacing as the novel raced towards its denouement definitely gathered pace and held my interest. I liked how the pieces of the story fell into place and that there were some intriguing twists along the way.

I also liked a lot of the characters - especially the detective, Chilton, charged with finding Agatha in Harrogate. His easy manners but perhaps incompetent policing methods were entertaining and he was genuinely likeable. Similarly, I enjoyed the sections where we actually saw Agatha Christie - for a book that hangs on her famous name, I really had hoped to see her more!

The novel's narrator, Nan O'Dea, is much more tricky. I think she is intended to be based on Archie Christie's second wife, Nancy Neele, but this is where it got problematic for me. A lot of the action is constructed as imagined by Nan - a clearly unreliable narrator as she is telling a story about things she has not witnessed and is openly imagining the events.

This is an interesting idea, but makes for a story which is much more about Nan - including her foibles and limitations - than anyone else. If this had not been sold with the Christie link then I'd probably accept this more - as it is, I wanted more Christie and felt slightly uncomfortable because, if Nan is really based on a real person, as she doesn't always read very sympathetically. I do wonder what Neele's family would make of this.

Overall, I did enjoy the twists and turns of the novel, although I did find some strands more engaging than others - for me, the 1926 sections were the most intriguing. I found Nan's past well-researched and sad, but slightly at odds with the Agatha Christie-based mystery I signed up for initially. I'd recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and give this book 3.5 stars (rounded to 4) for its slightly uneven narrative.

3.5 stars.

On the whole I enjoyed the book, but found elements of it a little confused. For starters I think, given the title, I was expecting a lot more Agatha Christie given it was in & around her famed disappearance. Rather than Agatha the story focuses on Nan, Agatha's husband's mistress. Nan's story was interesting & one I'd have enjoyed as a standalone, it was at times heartbreaking & I must say I loved the plot twist reveal towards the end of the book. I do feel like this was a book made up of good ideas that were put together using Agatha as a hook & wonder if I'd have taken more from it if I'd read more by Agatha Christie because Nan suggests that events from Agatha's time away made it in to her fiction, which would have been fun to spot references had I known more.

This wasn't for me, I thought there would be more Agatha in it and what there was didn't grab me. Nans story was more interesting but I regret to say I dnf.

I had much higher hopes for this book. If it wasn’t our book club read I probably would have DNFd it!

I felt the links to real life people tenuous and that it was disrespectful to Agatha’s memory. Without all of that it probably would have been an ‘ok’ book on its own.

As it was sold as ‘The Christie Affair’ there was a distinct lack of Christie…

Overall found it difficult to follow the characters and timelines which left me a little bored and skim reading!

2/5.

3.5*
This book review is about expectation. I had expected that this would be a book about Agatha’s 11 missing days - a mystery that has never been adequately solved. I thought this book was going to create a narrative about those 11 days that would be somewhat akin to an Agatha Christie novel. This book to my mind instead is more a romantic fiction novel. We get far more of Nan than we do of Agatha. I also class it as romantic because there’s a lot in here about the emotional states of the characters. What I love about Christie is that her formula is far more simple: it’s about motive and method, without tears and trauma.
Had I read this without the Christie expectation there, I might feel differently about the book and have rated it more highly.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.