Book Review: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

I read this book as I am a big fan of Agatha Christie’s work and was interested in her life. It was a fascinating look at not just the events surrounding Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance, but also how women were viewed at the time. There’s some great plot twists later on in the novel too.

In 1926 Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned to leave her.

In 1926, Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned to leave her. When Agatha disappeared, it caused a media sensation. The police were highly involved in the case and searched for clues everywhere in order to find Agatha’s location. They were about to give up when she was found on December 14th after a heavy snowstorm came down over the area that she was located in. The narrator of the book is Nan who has stolen Archie Christie, Agatha’s husband. When Agatha’s car is found with clothes inside, Agatha is presumed dead.

Even though we start with Agatha’s disappearance, it soon becomes clear that this isn’t really her story.

When Agatha disappears, we’re immediately drawn into the mystery of her disappearance. But even though this is the plot’s main thread, it becomes clear that it’s not really Agatha’s story. The reader begins to develop a strong investment in Nan and her life—and as much as she might wish otherwise, Nan can’t be separated from Agatha’s disappearance.

Nan is a complicated character who feels like an amalgamation of many women: she has a sharp wit and an independent streak, but she also longs for love and companionship (she wants to marry her childhood friend). She’s smart enough to recognize that there are many things beyond her control; at one point she tells the reader, “You may well wonder if you can believe what I tell you about things that occurred when I myself was not present. But this is as reliable an account as you can ever hope to receive. […]”. She is a sympathetic character, because she feels she is just trying to right a wrong.

One of the striking things about the novel was how class conscious both characters were.

One of the striking things about the novel was how class conscious both characters were. Agatha and Archie are from wealthy families, but Nan is from the lower classes. Agatha’s husband has been having an affair with Nan for some time, and Nan believes that he will leave Agatha for Nan once she discovers his true feelings for her. However, when Agatha does find out about their affair, she wants to keep it quiet because she doesn’t want anyone knowing that her marriage isn’t perfect anymore.

Nan is acutely aware of how privileged Agatha’s upbringing has been, especially in contrast to her own. Therefore, she feels little sympathy for Agatha’s predicament, and not much guilt about her behaviour. However, she also envies Agatha in a way, and wishes for the life Agatha has.

Both main female characters are sympathetic. However, I felt that Nan’s story could almost have been a separate novel to Agatha’s story.

I really liked The Christie Affair, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in the ending. It felt like a classic case of “and then they all lived happily ever after.” As such, both main female characters are sympathetic: Nan has been treated appallingly by her family and Agatha has been beaten down by the infidelity of her husband. Nan’s story could almost have been a separate novel to Agatha’s story- her background and experiences in Ireland deserved to be more at the forefront.

This was strongly plotted.

This was a very well plotted novel. The plot was tightly woven and well structured, with each scene leading logically to the next, so that even if you didn’t know how it would end, you were definitely headed there. The pacing was on target: neither too fast nor too slow for the story line or character development. And it was developed thoroughly enough to keep me interested throughout the whole book – no wandering off into some random tangent about something insignificant for pages at a time here! The execution of this plot could not have been better—it was executed almost flawlessly.

Conclusion

This was a great read, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery. The Christie Affair is also available as an audiobook which would make it perfect for long car journeys or long flights!