The Christie Affair

Trigger warnings: war, suicide, rape, infants taken away from mothers

The story of Agatha Christie's famous disappearance as told by her husband's mistress

"A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman."

Nina de Gramont's novel begins with this sentence that sucks the reader in and takes off running. Although the sentence is true, the story unfolding is not at all what the reader would expect.

Nan O'Dea is Archie Christie's mistress and is biding her time until Archie divorces Agatha. Mrs. Christie is not a household name yet but has a few mystery novels published. When she disappears after Archie tells her that he's leaving her, the entire country is captivated by the story of her disappearance.

Was the disappearance an elaborate publicity stunt? Christie's next novel would be published the following January. She becomes a household name and is still known as Agatha Christie despite her divorce from Mr. Christie.

The story that unfolds is told by Nan and is mostly her story, but she shares what she's gleaned from Agatha and Archie. The narrative switches back and forth between Nan's childhood in pre-WWI Ireland and the time her life intertwined with Archie and Agatha.

Nan O'Dea is a fictional character but is based on a real woman. Through her narrative, the reader finds a desperate woman who will do anything to get what she wants -- which surprisingly isn't Archie Christie.

The reimagining of what happened during Agatha Christie's disappearance -- and why -- is a plot worthy of one of Christie's novels. I enjoyed this version of the story more than The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict.

Highly recommended for fans of women's historical fiction and Agatha Christie.

Nina de Gramont, AKA Marina Gessner, is a university professor living in North Carolina.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Length: 320 pages

Release Date: February 1, 2022

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.