Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Christie Affair

I have been wanting to read this since it was published, and to be honest I was a little dissapointed. The premise was fantastic! A fictional depiction of Agatha Christie's dissaperance from the perspective of her husband's mistress, however it fell short for me. I thought the pacing was off and saw the first twist coming pretty early (slightly spoiled by the reviews at the front of the novel to be honest). The narration was off puting as it spoiled the ending from quite early in the novel.
That being said the novel was enjoyable, it touched on many subjects and I felt the parts that commented on the 'place' of women in the 1920s was insightful and I'm glad the author commented on this as it usually is assumed that women were very passive in this era, which is not the case. The second twist was REALLY good, I didn't see it coming and enjoyed the reveal very much.
Overall it was enjoyable but probably won't pick up another from the author in the future, dependent on an interesting premise!

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_alyssar_'s review

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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feebles640's review against another edition

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mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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delphic's review against another edition

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2.5

This book had been an anticipated release so i had high hopes, unfortunately it did not deliver. The POV character was the mistress of Agatha Christie's husband, a real person, however she was essentially a fictional character in this story. Her name had been changed as had her backstory, adding an unnecessarily tragic backstory that was, however, crucial to the plot as it had been written. The book follows the 10 days Agatha Christie spent missing, a time she never spoke of. I knew the events would be fictional as no one knew the story, I was not expecting the story to centre so closely around so many other fictional events and characters making me wonder why this had been centred around Christie in the first place. Had this been an entirely fictional Historical Fiction book i would not have minded it as much.
The only real issue i had that isn't connected to the problems caused by using real people was the faux omniscient and thus unreliable narrator of the POV character. It was interesting if annoying, would have preferred a simple POV change rather than acting like the POV character somehow knew all of this was happening and what everyone was thinking. I also felt that this book never truly explored the various trauma's held within to the extent it shoudl, merely using them as set dressing, character motivations and pieces. in the mystery.
Overall, not a story i would recommend.

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kaylamoran's review

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a 5 star prediction for me, and it fell so flat. It never managed to get me to care about the characters, despite all of its efforts. It's not bad per se but I'm extremely disappointed.

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jessgreads's review

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Rating: ⭐⭐✨⬜⬜

Title: The Christie Affair

Author: Nina de Gramont

Genre: Historical Fiction

Setting: London, England

Month Read: February 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2022

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 311

*Book of the Month Selection

TRIGGER WARNING-

Abuse / Infidelity / Murder / Kidnapping / Trauma / Religious Abuse / Rape

"Perhaps a woman has a different kind of measuring stick. For when it might be acceptable, or even necessary, to commit a murder."

No Spoiler Summary:

The Christie Affair is a fiction take on Agatha Christie's mysterious 11 day disappearance told in the POV's of Agatha, and her husband's mistress, Nan. You follow both women through the days before, during, and slightly after the disappearance takes place. You also follow Nan through her past, filled with trauma, treachery, and abuse.

Review:

I'm not quite sure how I felt about this novel, and I think the completely fabricated storylines sort of lost me a bit more than I thought they would. For fans of Agatha, I think this misses the mark quite a bit on being a good mystery novel, and Nan's stakes in this seem incredibly far fetched (and a little forced.)

Nan's past was an incredibly hard part of this book to get through, for me, and I could have probably just read an entire book about this and enjoyed it a lot more. The Irish Catholic religion and the harm they did to unmarried women is disgusting, and as a newer Mom this sent me into rages. I cannot imagine what all of these women went through, and it just hurts so much to know that religion, and those who upheld it, caused people so much pain.

I wish we got to know Archie more, besides just being the man in the center of these two women.I feel like he was really underdeveloped and one sided, and I left the novel unsure why anyone even wanted him in the firs place.

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"As if the sheer force of her anguish had made her, inexplicably, the most important person on earth"

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carireadsbooksandtarot's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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