'The Christie Affair' by Nina Gramont is a fascinating take on a short period in the life of one of the most celebrated authors, Agatha Christie. Set in December 1926, the author had reimagined the famous eleven day disappearance of Christie. To this day, we do not know the truth behind Christie's disappearance and although Gramont is adding to an existing body of stories about the topic, she brings a new and refreshing take to the tale.
It has long been suggested that Col. Archie Christie's affair (and the subsequent relevant of this affair), played a significant role in Christie's decision to vanish temporarily. And until now, Nan O'Dea has been relegated to the sidelines. In 'The Christie Affair', both Nan and Agatha play central roles and they both prove to be formidable women. The male characters pale in comparison and despite much posturing and demands, make a lesser impact- indeed, they are less likeable. With the possible exception of Chilton, who at least attempts to treat the female characters as more than objects to be played with.
Gramont provides an indepth and tragic backstory for O'Dea's character. I feel that this story was developed in order to explain O'Dea's actions and garner sympathy for her. I'm not entirely sure how well that plays out as O'Dea remains singular focused, regardless of the pain caused.
Despite my uncertainty towards O'Dea, I will enjoy her narrative and an alternative tale for the infamous disappearance.
Well worth a read.

A very interesting fictional representation of where Agatha Christie went during her disappearance. Interesting perspective choice with the narrator being her husbands mistress and her perceptions of Agatha. Those first few chapters hook you in. Took me a while to get into Irish back story of Nan's but once the story progressed I could see why so much story was provided. Less interesting for me personally though.
Agatha proves to be wonderfully enigmatic in this read and that I really like. I also like the honesty of the narrator who doesn't pretend to be revelatory with an ohmygoodness she was found. She knows the reader knows this and wants to fill the gaps.

This was an enjoyable read ,based loosely around the well documented ‘disappearance’ of Agatha Christie in 1926 .In this case it’s also used as a device for telling a different story of unmarried pregnant women in Ireland at the time of WW1.It’s well written but felt quite contrived ,as the author tries to tie in a lot of different threads, including a murder investigation ,to the real life disappearance of Agatha Christie.It’s told from the point of view of Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Agatha’s husband ,who he later married ,but as she wasn’t present for many of the events she recounts, a lot is surmised.If you’re prepared to suspend belief for certain parts of the story,it’s entertaining.Just one slight niggle-I know the writer is American but upper-class English people in the 1920s would never have said ‘Go collect your things’ ; it might be an idea to have a last check before publication to remove any Americanisms-I noticed a couple!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.

3.5 stars

Agatha Christie remains one of my favourite crime authors. Nobody can weave a story like she can, challenging us to guess whodunnit. Her own mysterious disappearance only adds to her prowess as a writer,

Nina de Gramont is the latest author to recreate what happened during the disappearance and her idea is - for the most part - believable.

Narrated by Nan O’Dea, Archie Christie’s mistress, we are shown a version of events quite unlike what we’ve seen so far. The single narration does leave gaps as Nan wasn’t actually present for a lot of the story, so has ‘assumed’ what actually happened; I would’ve preferred to have Mr Christie - or indeed Mr Chilton - providing a second narrative to provide more insight.

Names of Agatha’s future characters (Armstrong, Marston, Carmichael etc.) are used as ‘real’ hotel guests, which is a nice touch, implying that she was inspired by these events later on. However, as Agatha wasn’t actually staying at the hotel, it’s less feasible, but admirable nonetheless.

I’ve stayed at the Old Swan Hotel where Agatha was ‘discovered’ and (knowing that Agatha was found under Nan’s name) it confused me at first that Nan was staying at the Belmont, as I was unaware it had been renamed.

What is interesting is seeing Nan’s history and her ‘real’ reason for having an affair with Archie. Her story alone (and its dramatic conclusion) about the homes for ‘wayward women’ would have worked really well without Christie’s disappearance and does detract a little to begin with. It is all wrapped up at the end, but does feel as though the author had that book in mind and then combined it with the concept of Agatha’s disappearance (as there’s a lot going on in such a short book), as there are rather too many coincidences for my liking.

That said, it’s well done and enjoyable, giving us a different opinion of both Mrs Christies. The Christie Affair is well-written and engaging, with a good pace. Is it feasible? Maybe? Is it what happened? Probably not.

However, in my opinion de Gramont’s version is one of the best fictional accounts of what happened.