Have you read mystery novels by Agatha Christie recently? It has been a long time since i have picked up one of her books and today’s book is actually not written by her, but about her. Marie Benedict is one of my favorite authors who writes about women in history. In The Mystery of Mrs Christie, she brings Agatha Christie to life while writing a mesmerizing speculative fiction about the time the author disappeared and then reappeared without any memory. If you are intrigued too, keep reading for the synopsis, content notes and my thoughts!
Marie Benedict, the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room, uncovers the untold story of Agatha Christie’s mysterious eleven day disappearance.
In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car — strange for a frigid night. Her husband and daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away.
The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark exploration into the shadows of history, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such a murky story.
What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?
A master storyteller whose clever mind may never be matched, Agatha Christie’s untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.
Content Notes: Depiction of Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Infidelity, death of parent.
Thoughts on The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
I had no clue about Agatha Christie’s personal history until I came across this book. I was just browsing bookshelves at my local library when I found myself gravitating to this book. I had recently acquired Marie’s upcoming book, Her Hidden Genius through The Nerd Daily and another book, The Christie Affair came to mind! My grandma and aunt have almost the full collection for Agatha and reading this book reminded me of the many lazy afternoons and evenings we spent reading her books. I hadn’t given much thought to Agatha’s personal life so I was intrigued to learn more about her, and double intrigued that she had disappeared for 11 days, returning without any memory of what had happened.
On Agatha as a Character
Marie portrays Agatha as an independent woman who takes challenges seriously, She has always had a bit of a rivalry with her sister and when they bet on her writing a novel, Agatha sits down to create the memorable character of Hercule Poirot who is quite beloved to this day. I loved following the timeline of the books she wrote and how their names and characters related to her read life. The fact that there is a book called The Mysterious Affair at Styles and she lived in a house called Styles is one of my favorite fun facts about Agatha!
I am not surprised that she took so much inspiration from her everyday life and knowing more about her family situation and relationship with her daughter and husband makes me think that books and writers held a very important part in her life. The worlds she created were an escape. We say a lot about readers and writers, how books help us escape real life, but most of the time, I don’t read books to escape from something bad happening to me (honestly, in those scenarios, there is little chance that I will be able to read at all). Agatha is amazing in her prowess to come up with intricate plotlines and mystery. I admire her for coming up with such amazing characters without ever having been a detective herself. The way this story unfolds, I got a kick out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being asked where she might have disappeared because he wrote Sherlock Holmes. I do not know if that really happened during the investigation but it does show the influence and insight that authors have and how people might go consult with them when nothing else seems plausible.
Agatha came from a middle-class family (at least that is how I see it). She did not have much of an inheritance and sometimes she had to do without a maid and housekeeper to make ends meet. But she persevered in writing and did all she could to support her family in her unique way. If she came from a working family, it would have been quite challenging to find time to write and work. With her husband being in the military, they mostly did ok and were occasionally able to go on month long tours. Hence, there is some privilege and freedom that she enjoyed which probably helped give her ample time for writing.
On Archie, the Husband
Agatha married Archie, a man who wooed her from the very start. It is clear that the war changed them both though it is quite disheartening to see that he so completely turned away from someone he pursued passionately when they were younger. Since it was the 1920s, divorce infidelity would have been frowned upon more, so it is not surprising that Archie spends most of the time trying to salvage his reputation. However, that does not go well and I felt that he totally deserved all that came his way.
Based on the ending of the book and the way the narrative unfolds, it is actually quite hard to figure out how reliable Agatha’s portrayal of Archie was to real life and if the reason she disappeared was really to teach him a very important lesson. The Mystery of Mrs Christie alternates chapters between the past (narrated from Agatha’s point of view) and the present with Archie being the main focus. The past is known as ‘The Manuscript’ while the present is usually a few days after the disappearance. Why the past is called the manuscript was an astounding resolution and made me question the reliability of the narrator.
There are still questions on my mind and they will remain unsolved. I feel like that is a very appropriate reading to this book – the mystery in my head remains as much unsolved as the real-life incident of what happened to Agatha in those 11 days.
On Relationships
Agatha’s relationship with her mother portrayed a societal expectation aspect that would have been hard to address without her. Her mother’s advice had always been to keep the husband as priority but it seems like Agatha took it too far, neglecting their daughter Rosalind, and not forming a strong relationship with her. Every parent-child relationship is different and there will always be one parent that the child gravitates to. Between Archie and Agatha, Rosalind chose Archie.
As the plot progresses, I loved Agatha’s single mindedness in wanting to salvage the relationship with Rosalind and making sure that she would not blame her for what transpired. The disappearance, the manuscript, the investigation, the swarms of reporters all work towards a single goal that I applaud Marie’s beautiful crafting.
Reading Experience Summary
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Mystery of Mrs Christie! In classic Marie Benedict fashion, the author lets us get into the mind of the immensely famous writer, taking her to a time in her life when she was very new to the publishing world. The relationship between Agatha and her husband were portrayed with deep intensity and I felt passionately about the chain of events that transpired.
Agatha Christie disappeared in the early years of her career. While it is surprising that her disappearance got so much coverage in the media, possibly making her a household name, I think it was more of a happy consequence than an intended outcome. But I will never know for sure, and speculative fiction like this book allows the mystery to continue.
Will you pick up The Mystery of Mrs Christie? If you have read it already, share your thoughts in the comments.
The Mystery of Mrs Christie is now available in stores.
Be sure to check your local library and support them.
I will be back in the new year with the review of Marie’s upcoming book, Her Hidden Genius. Check out it’s synopsis here and read about Marie below. Also, in February 2022, The Christie Affair (Goodreads link) will shed another speculative light on Agatha’s disappearance. I am excited to compare the two books!
About the Author (from Goodreads)
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a commercial litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms. While practicing as a NYC lawyer, Marie dreamed of a fantastical job unearthing the hidden historical stories of women — and finally found it when she tried her hand at writing. She embarked on a new, thematically connected series of historical fiction excavating the stories of important, complex and fascinating women from the past with THE OTHER EINSTEIN, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein’s first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories. She then released CARNEGIE’S MAID, the story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie toward philanthropy, followed by the NYTimes bestseller THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, the tale of the Golden Age of Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr who made a world-changing invention, and LADY CLEMENTINE about Winston Churchill’s wife. Her latest book — THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE — focuses on the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie and the role it played in shaping her into the world’s most successful novelist.
Find her on Goodreads, Facebook and Instagram.
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Cover image: Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
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