This book follows the true story of the 11 days in which Agatha Christie disappeared and hypothesizes what may have actually happened during that time. This book was so interesting! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I would love to read more by this author!

Based on a true event, this story tells one theory of the disappearance of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie actually disappeared for eleven days and she was found at a spa, just as events in this story relate. For fans of a mystery, historical fiction, or Agatha Christie buffs, this story is well written and poses a theory of what really happened during those eleven days.

This book follows the story of Agatha Christie's disappearance for several days, and discusses what could have happened; all from the point of view of Agatha's husband's mistress Nan.
The story goes from the past, discussing some wrongs done to Nan, and then brings us to the "present," which is the time period during the disappearance. We get to meet Nan's one true love, Finnbar, and we also meet numerous other characters in Nan's life. We then learn what the most important thing in Nan's life is, her "lost" daughter, Genevieve.
Nan's youth was during the time of the war, and at that time there were many young ladies who became unwed mothers when their men were sent off to war. As a result of this, the churches decided to create many homes for unwed mothers to stay until they gave birth, to hide the disgrace they caused. These young women were not treated very well, and their children were usually taken to be put in an orphanage or given up for adoption; sometimes against their will. Nan is someone who had to endure this, and because of that fact her whole adult life revolved around her lost child.
I really enjoyed this telling of the story of Agatha's disappearance, and I would recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a great book on that topic.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's St. Martin's Press for this arc, I wish I had loved it more. It was disappointing that we didn't get more from Agatha's POV because to me, Nan's POV was not interesting at all. The writing was good, but the story never took off for me. But it was a win, because it made me realize that I don't connect with historical fiction if I like the real person it is about.

Nina de Gramont created the perfect blend of a mystery novel and historical fiction, presenting her take on the disappearance of Agatha Christie that had England aghast. I loved this novel and highly recommend it to those enjoying a dash of romance and intrigue with their mysteries.

I wanted to like this book. I like historical fiction, but this story just didn’t resonate with me. The story is told in first person by a woman, Nan O’Dea who is a friend to Agatha Christie while also sleeping with her husband. After hearing her husband is leaving her, Agatha flees and spends 11 days trying to find herself. I found the book confusing from the point of view to the changes in characters and Nan’s flashbacks. I also did not like the way they justified Nan’s behavior. While having her baby taken away from her was a tragedy; murdering people involved, hurting people (Finnegan) and stealing someone’s husband is not right either.

This book is less about Agatha Christie and more about Nan O’Dea, Agatha’s husband’s paramour. I imagine things were handled in a different way in the mid-1920s. I know I would not have reacted as Agatha did when finding out her husband was leaving her for another woman. In fact, I DIDN’T respond that way when my husband did the same thing! The author has done an excellent job of weaving a fictional tale surrounding Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

The premise of this was so intriguing and I was really excited to dive in - plus that cover!!! It is gorgeous!

Unfortunately I never became fully invested. This felt very slow and not very engaging. I had a hard time getting into the story and kept noticing I had read a few pages and my mind wandered so I didn't know what I just read and had to go back and repeat the process.

This wasn't a favorite for me.

A love story and a mystery, all tied up with an Agatha Christie bow? Yes, please. Garmont writes an intriguing historical fiction novel about the Christies and it's one you simply can't put down.

This one was too long. We focused on too many unimportant things that made this kind of a drag to read.

A beautifully written mystery given from a very unusual perspective. I highly recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the pleasure of reading.

This was definitely not what I thought I was getting myself into once I started to read. I was hoping that since this book is the "Christie" affair, it might be more about Agatha Christie. Instead, the play on words in the title means we hear very little about Agatha herself and much more about her husband's mistress, Nan O'Dea, from whose perspective this story is told. I wasn't particularly interested in Nan's life, to be honest, and I was a little disappointed that there was so little about what actually happened during Agatha Christie's disappearance. But I suppose we'll never really know what happened during that time, so this fictional speculation is just that--another speculation. I will say I liked the mystery that was added in as a nod to Agatha Christie's writing. This book is certainly not bad, it's just not what I thought it was going to be and I think readers need to read the back cover before diving in.

The Christie Affair covers the 11 days in 1926 that Agatha Christie went missing. In an interesting turn, the story is told from the perspective of Archie Christie’s mistress. Agatha disappears after getting the news that her husband is leaving her for his paramour of two years.
Nan O’Dea isn’t real but is based on a real person. Nan narrates the story and as she even says, “you may well wonder if you can believe what I tell you about things that occurred when I myself was not present.” She gives us a plausible reason and the story does work with her as the narrator. We’re given both her background along with Agatha’s. To be honest, Agatha is more of a secondary character in this story. Do not go into this expecting Agatha to be front and center. If you do, I fear you will be disappointed.
The book encompasses a little bit of everything - a quest, a murder mystery, a romance. I was pleased by the two twists towards the end. And equally pleased by the imagined ending. De Gromant does a good job of giving the murder portion of the story the feel of an Agatha Christie novel. I enjoyed the characters as they all came across as real, despite the sometimes dreamlike state of the story. I applaud her ability to make Nan into a likable character, given that she is “the other woman”.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Nan O’Dea already had a history when she met and had an affair with Archie Christie, husband of Agatha Christie.

The infidelity on Archie’s part caused his wife to disappear for 11 days with everyone thinking Agatha had killed herself.

The story of Agatha Christie's disappearance was very interesting, and I wasn’t aware this happened.

Agatha’s story was enjoyable. Nan’s story was not enjoyable at first but became better especially when secrets about her emerged. She wasn’t a nice person or should I say she was a calculating person.

As the story unfolds, we get to know Agatha through the author’s detailed, fluid writing style. We also learn about Nan and her plans.

There are a few twists and surprises, and overall THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR was good.

The way Ms. de Gramont wrapped up the book was clever.

Historical fiction fans and Agatha Christie fans will enjoy this book very much. It will also be enjoyable for those who didn’t know the facts about Agatha Christie's disappearance and her husband’s infidelity. I only knew her as a terrific author. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Agatha Christie would have been proud of this story. It has all the elements of a good mystery - characters who intrigue, likeable and not so likeable characters, settings, lots of red herrings for the reader to follow.

When Agatha Christie seemingly vanished into thin air in 1926 and was missing for 11 days, it was a media sensation. Reporters swarmed to the area where she had last been seen, police forces called in additional policemen and they worked around the clock to uncover her whereabouts. Her husband had to remember to play the grieving spouse, while feeling like he was getting off the hook and would be able to pursue his own life - after a suitable period of grieving, of course.

While the author has taken liberties with Agatha's husband's lover, turning her into Nan O'Dea, and creating quite a story around her as well as Agatha, it all comes together to make a cracking good mystery.

Does The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont refer to the actual affair Agatha Christie’s husband Archibald had with Nancy Neele, fictionalized as Nan O’Dea in the book, or does it refer to the 11-day disappearance of the crime novelist that she was never able to explain? Whichever, the book reimagines that famous vanishing from the point of view of the mistress.

Nancy/Nan wormed her way into the Christies’ lives by befriending both the wife and the husband, much like Pauline Pfeiffer did with Hadley and Ernest Hemingway...and in the same year, 1925. Both women became the mistress before being able to assert Mrs. before the famous last names. Agatha and Nancy met while working on a committee to design and organize a children's section of the 1925 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley.

The distress caused by Nancy/Nan’s luring away Agatha’s husband is thought to be the impetus for Agatha to disappear for 11 days, which was a mystery that fascinated readers of her work. Her husband was even a suspect in the possible murder of “the lady novelist,” who had not yet reached a high level of fame. On the other hand, Agatha spent little time on this episode of her life in her autobiography other than to call it a case of temporary amnesia.

While at times de Gramont seems to borrow from the movies and other stories about this time in Agatha’s life, the author takes the plot to where it has never gone before, hinted at in the opening line, “A long time ago in another country, I nearly killed a woman.” Not only is this work of historical fiction a look at what happened to Agatha during the time she seemed to have evaporated from her life, it is also a murder mystery with a subplot about poor pregnant unmarried girls in Ireland, what happened to their babies, and the thirst for revenge and resolution for these women.

Nina de Gramont is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The author of a collection of short stories, Of Cats and Men, she has written three adult novels as well as several YA novels under the pen name Marina Gessner. She lives in coastal North Carolina with her daughter and her husband, the Pushcart Prize-winning writer David Gessner.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 28, 2021.

I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

This novel was very well written and executed! Leading the reader in a completely opposite direction from what was expected, it was a great take on what might have happened. Two very strong, determined female characters make strides to achieve their life goals, but in very different ways. Great book!

Oh my goodness, what a well written book! The Christie Affair is a book you most definitely want to add to your TBR list/pile. Alternating between two timelines - the 11-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in December 1926, and a period 7-12 years prior - the story is narrated by Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Agatha Christie’s husband, Archie. While Agatha’s disappearance was a very real event, and one she never discussed for the rest of her life, the rest of the story, and its characters, are purely fictional.

Although I figured out the mystery and motives of Miss O’Dea pretty early on, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend reading this book.

I really enjoyed reading this, the book is well-written and the premise is amazing. It's historical fiction at it's finest and the story is great.

Wonderful writing mixed with skillful plot. Very interesting to have Nan serve as narrator as well as her full story exposed. Interesting to privy Nan’s perception on what she believed transpired.

I enjoyed the book, utterly entertaining and adept BUT I was really hoping to gather MORE from Agatha. Despite my curiosity, I did feel as if I was an intruder on their marital matters, I felt as if none of this was frankly my business, far too intimate to eavesdrop upon the love triangle actually fearsome quintet.

Characterization was well done.

Despite a tinge of disappointment the stellar writing and nimble talent from the authoress far made up from what I was hoping for. A pleasant surprise indeed. Unexpected and well done, thunderbolt.