I have been fascinated by Agatha Christie and her eleven days of disappearance since I heard about The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont. Though I ended up reading my favorite author, Marie Benedict’s rendition of the events in The Mystery of Mrs. Christie first (see review here), I expected Gramont’s book to add more dimension and its own unique take on the events that we don’t truly know transpired. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical because the perspective of the mistress is almost a justification of the fact that it is ok to steal someone else’s husband. But that is such a superficial take on the real story and I am glad that The Christie Affair offered character building and by the end, I loved this story. Take a look at the synopsis and content notes then dive into my review.
Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.
“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. 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.”
The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.
London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.
The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?
Content notes depiction of rape, sexual assault, child death, pregnancy, murder, miscarriage, infidelity, separation from child.
Thoughts on The Christie Affair
When I first started reading The Christie Affair, I compared it a lot to what I knew from The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. However, since both are speculative fiction about the famous mystery writer, Agatha Christie, there were a number of creative liberties taken by the authors and I had to work on disassociating what I thought I knew to what was happening in the book. While Agatha and Archie remain the same, I noticed that the name of their child is different (or maybe it is just what they call her) and in this version, Archie’s mistress, Nan, has a lot of the centre stage.
While Agatha is definitely a hook for readers to pick up the novel, The Christie Affair is an educational read about society, the view on pregnancy of unmarried Cathotic women, the effects of the war and much more. Nan is originally from Ireland and as I got to know her past life, it was impossible not to feel for her.
Falling in love with a soldier named Finbarr and then being separated from him on his return from the war, Nan is sent to the Magdalene Laundries when she finds out she is pregnant with his child. Having seen her sister be devastated by similar circumstances, Nan is bent on making a better life for herself and has the support of her mother to do so. However, the Magdalene Laundries are a horror in themselves with the priest sexually assualting pregnant girls and the residents working all day. They never get to keep their children and most importantly, they have to do good to be given the ‘privilege’ of tending to the babies born there. These chapters were a heartbreaking read and set the stage for a revenge/murder plot that I had not anticipated. The Laundries are also where Nan’s daughter is adopted and where begins Nan’s journey to reconnect with her.
Nan is driven to find her daughter and when she realizes who she is, she creeps into the lives of the Christies. There are a number of moral dilemmas that come up but to Nan, having lost Finbarr, her child is the only person that matters. How the plot unfolds and reveals these truths in conjugation with Agatha’s disappearance is brilliant writing and my skepticism about reading the mistress’ perspective went right out of the window. I understood Nan’s motivations and as expected from any mystery whether her truths are actually truths depends on perspective.
Moving on from Nan back to Agatha for a bit: I loved this Agatha. I found her to be a more vocal and vibrant version than The Mystery of Mrs Christie. She has learned some things about her marriage and her child that she has to reconcile with what she knows to be true while keeping in mind the people that she is interacting with – Archie and Nan have their own beliefs and interpretations and I felt that Agatha’s decisions at the end of the day balanced what she wanted and what was best for everyone.
It is clear that Archie has mistreated her and she needs to get out of an unhappy marriage. I liked that she had an instant spark with Chilton, the detective investigating her disappearance, and how the two of them had a bit of a cat and mouse chase going on. But as smart individuals with specialization in mysteries (solving vs writing), they made a great pair. The author also did a wonderful job in building each of the side characters, be it Chilton, Finbarr or the women and clergy at the institution.
I listened to this book in audiobook format and it was quite enjoyable there! Lucy Scott’s narration is engaging and I really liked how she did the voices for the different characters. If you like listening to audiobooks, this is definitely one to pick up! Find this book on Goodreads and StoryGraph.
Will you pick up this book?
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Be First to Comment