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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Just didn't get into it. Enjoying more interesting books.
A great story of historical fiction. I love how the author takes a known or unknown lady in history and brings to light her contributions to our history. This one was written from two points of view- one of Agatha Christie’s and the other from her husband, Archie Christie’s. It reads like a mystery. I’ve read three books by this author and need to read more of her’s and continue to learn about accomplishments and challenges women in history have dealt with.
For such a short book, it felt a lot longer. But can’t put my finger on it because while not her best, it was a good read. Maybe it was just the dbag husband that was such a dolt!!
Women have been fighting the same battles against men for centuries!!! An interesting take on an unsolved mystery
4,5/5
I knew! I just knew I would love this book. First of all, look at this gorgeous cover: it's perfect. Second, the story is extremely engaging. I am somewhat familiar with Agatha Christie's life story, but this added to the aura of mystery surrounding her disappearance in 1926. I love when books sweep fiction into reality and make me wonder what was really true and what could've been.
I didn't give it a full 5 stars because the plot was predictable. Nevertheless, I was surprised by the reactions of the characters and their involvement with the disappearance and also by little narrative details that composed this classic mysterious atmosphere.
Obviously, I recommend it. I hope you cannot put it down, like I couldn't too.
I knew! I just knew I would love this book. First of all, look at this gorgeous cover: it's perfect. Second, the story is extremely engaging. I am somewhat familiar with Agatha Christie's life story, but this added to the aura of mystery surrounding her disappearance in 1926. I love when books sweep fiction into reality and make me wonder what was really true and what could've been.
I didn't give it a full 5 stars because the plot was predictable. Nevertheless, I was surprised by the reactions of the characters and their involvement with the disappearance and also by little narrative details that composed this classic mysterious atmosphere.
Obviously, I recommend it. I hope you cannot put it down, like I couldn't too.
It was enjoyable enough, it just wasn't very exciting. You kind of know what happens all along and so the suspense is really taken out. Kind of just turned into a dramatic tale of a really shitty husband.
I wanted so badly to like this more, as the premise was interesting and I love Agatha Christie, but it just fell flat for me. It was... boring.
I had such high hopes for this book because I was intrigued by Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance at the heart of the story. This is the fourth book I have read by Marie Benedict. I loved Carnegie’s Maid, but the other three have each been systematically less enjoyable for me. It’s been an odd downhill trajectory for my relationship with this author. Carnegie’s Maid (5 stars), The Other Einstein (4 stars), The Personal Librarian (3 stars), and now this one. The ending did make things come together. But Agatha and, especially, Archie were so unlikeable for most of the book it was hard to bounce back with a clever ending and redeem the rest of the book. It was a 2 star book for me until the last few chapters. But even then, it’s a long way to go for a good payoff, so I wouldn’t recommend this book. There was a LOT of potential lost in this one.
This book was sort of fine, and somehow kept my interest all the way through. But I do think the author suffered a bit from the fact that this is a known historical moment in a famous writer’s life. We know in the end Agatha is going to show up and be fine. The book feels like the author’s self indulgence of wanting to recreate what might have transpired over those eleven days which I found to be not as intensely compelling if I hadn’t already known a bit about the story.
Kudos to the author for recognizing that an eleven-day woman hunt would not, in itself, be interesting to read chronologically and using the literary device of interspersing those chapters with set up about Agatha Christie’s early adulthood, meeting of her husband, and beginnings of her writing career. Those insights into the between-the-wars time period I found to be most interesting.
I have not read any of Marie Benedict’s other novels, but I definitely will check them out. I am always eager to read about unsung women, and the glimmers of creativity in this book showed promise for those other stories. Plus, I am always happy to support a fellow Pittsburgher!
Kudos to the author for recognizing that an eleven-day woman hunt would not, in itself, be interesting to read chronologically and using the literary device of interspersing those chapters with set up about Agatha Christie’s early adulthood, meeting of her husband, and beginnings of her writing career. Those insights into the between-the-wars time period I found to be most interesting.
I have not read any of Marie Benedict’s other novels, but I definitely will check them out. I am always eager to read about unsung women, and the glimmers of creativity in this book showed promise for those other stories. Plus, I am always happy to support a fellow Pittsburgher!
Such a good, fun read. I loved Agatha Christie as a teen and had no idea of her mysterious disappearance.