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alexklinect's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide and War
mags88's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Medical trauma, War, Pregnancy, Confinement, Miscarriage, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Abandonment, and Murder
_alyssar_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Moderate: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
greta_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, War, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer
passionatereader78's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, War, Sexual violence, and Torture
katymat18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: War
btodd12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry
oceanwriter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'll start with the title. It's a bit misleading. The story is told by Nan O'Dae, the fictionalized version of Archie Christie's mistress. Though Agatha Christie is present in the story and revolves around her disappearance, the story is largely about Nan and her backstory. While it was an interesting story, I spent the first fourth of the book trying to figure out why it's titled The Christie Affair and when the perspective would change to Agatha. Though it's not the biggest quip for me, it was distracting at first. As I said, Nan's story was interesting, but it overpowered Agatha's story.
My second issue with the book was the pacing. Even with Nan narrating, there were scenes with Agatha, Archie, and Chilton that didn't involve Nan which felt a little off now and then. Mostly it was the placement and the number of storylines going on. Nan often times broke the fourth wall, making it feel like a 'he said, she said' tale. That was the point of the narration, but those moments jarred me out of the story being told.
Lastly, I didn't care for some of the content in Nan's backstory. Though a driving force for the plot, I found the scenes with the nuns and the priest upsetting. I'm sure I'll get some flack for saying so. It's one thing to acknowledge it than have to read it in detail. Especially when it's not told in a way that's informing.
My complaints out of the way, I'll wrap this up by saying that I did like the book for the most part. The characters were likable and I like how they were written in a way that you're rooting for all of them even though their aspirations conflict with at least one of the others. There was mystery, romance, and intrigue all in one with none of them too over the top.
Graphic: Rape, Infidelity, and Child death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: War, Sexual content, and Death of parent
shelfofunread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Sadly, for me, the execution didn't deliver on the concept. And that reimagining of Archie's real-life second wife, Nancy Neele, into Nan O'Dea is one of the primary reasons for that.
Nan's personal story is a tragic one involving an Irish lover, an unexpected pregnancy, and a brutal forced incarceration. But it only becomes entwined with Agatha's life towards the end of the novel and has little relevance to her disappearance. Indeed, the 'twist' at the end that links the two women was, to me, both somewhat disrespectful to the real Agatha, Archie, and Nancy and also rather far-fetched and bizarre.
Nan's tale is, in and of itself, a very compelling one - and it is well told by the author, with an evocative sense of both character and place coming across on the page - but I just couldn't understand why the Christie connection had been made.
I understand that this is fiction but the title, blurb, and marketing of The Christie Affair suggested that the book "reimagines the unexplained eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 that captivated the world". Yet instead of Nan's story revealing "the truth of [Agatha's] disappearance", it wholly alters several aspects of both Christie and Nancy Neele's lives, replacing the real women with compellingly-written but barely recognisable figures and 'reimagining' their biographies by inventing fictitious romances (for Christie) and traumatic secrets (for Nancy/Nan).
If The Christie Affair hadn't promised to be a novel about Agatha Christie, I suspect I'd have enjoyed it a lot more. It is clear that the author can write a compelling historical novel and create interesting, believable, and empathetic characters. Sadly, the Christie link ended up feeling like little more than a convenient and underutilised hook that detracted from an otherwise interesting - but very different - novel.
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Suicide, War, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Infertility
linguaphile412's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, Murder, Miscarriage, Death, Infidelity, and Sexual content