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fairytalefootnotes's review
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Rape
Minor: Animal death and Suicide
eeamiller's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape
georginathelibrarian's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
This really would have been better entirely separate from Agatha Christie, it was a strong enough story on its own, and the link to Christie’s disappearance just felt incredibly tenuous and unnecessary
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Slavery, Sexual assault, Child death, and Kidnapping
passionatereader78's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
What a twisted tale of love! What does a woman do when her husband leaves her for his mistress? She disappears and uncovers a horrible past act that has impacted her future.
Content Warnings
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
raemow's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Rape, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Murder
ashlynnreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Kidnapping
craftyanty's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
An interesting premise---a fictionalized account of what could've happened during the mysterious 11-day disappearance of author Agatha Christie in December 1926. This book is told from the perspective of Nan, Christie's husband's mistress---a creative but unreliable viewpoint. It combines the two women's stories and leads to quite a convoluted book! I was really enjoying Nan's storyline until everything got crossed, and it all just seemed too contrived. I'm not familiar with Christie's writing but I can't help but wonder if this author was trying to pay homage to Christie's formulas.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Murder
mlleblanc10's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Rape
blancake's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Was Agatha Christie really necessary here?
I think I would enjoy it more if it were about some completely fictional people, especially since some very bold statements were made about and by real people who still have very much living relatives and offsprings. This made me quite uncomfortable while reading.
I think I would enjoy it more if it were about some completely fictional people, especially since some very bold statements were made about and by real people who still have very much living relatives and offsprings. This made me quite uncomfortable while reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Suicide, Classism, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
inthefallstateofmind's review
4.0
I am a fan of Agatha Christie's work and I have listened to a podcast about her life so I knew about the mysterious days that she went missing which she never spoke of. Her answer to questions about that time was always that she couldn't remember what happened. So learning that the premise of The Christie Affair was a fictional take on what happened during those missing days, I was very intrigued. With that being said, I haven't extensively looked into Agatha's history so as for what is really based on truth in this book, I can't say. I read it as though liberties were taken with the majority of the story.
The book is narrated from the POV of Agatha's husband's (Archie) mistress, Nan O'Dea. Nan is determined to steal Archie from Agatha even after being confronted by Agatha herself. The night that Archie finally tells Agatha that he is leaving her for Nan, Agatha packs a suitcase, grabs her typewriter, and disappears in her car. However, the car is later found on the side of the road and Agatha is nowhere in sight. The reader goes back and forth between this current time where the whole country is searching for Agatha and Nan is laying low at a luxury hotel and Nan's past where she fell in love with an Irish boy who was sent to fight in the War. After he returned, Nan got pregnant, but her love falls deathly ill before they could be married. The boy's parents send Nan off to a convent for unwed mothers where she is starved, forced to do backbreaking labor, and witnesses the physical and sexual abuse of other girls. After giving birth to her baby, the little girl is quickly given to a family without Nan's knowledge. Nan makes it her mission to find her child again.
There are a lot of moving parts and people in The Christie Affair and surprisingly not much of it has to do with Agatha Christie herself. While it uses her story as a basis, this is really a book about fictional character Nan O'Dea. In the beginning I wasn't sure how I would feel about this or her character, but Nina de Gramont did a great job at building Nan's character and getting you to feel sympathetic to a her despite doing some rather unfavorable things. Her story is actually the strongest in my opinion. Agatha is in the story and she plays a role, but don't go into it feeling like she is going to be a focal point. One thing that I think The Christie Affair could have benefited from was multiple POV narrators. Nan tells the whole story including other character's activities and thoughts at times when she wasn't there. Nan explains in the book how that was possible, but I think actually getting to hear the character's thoughts from their own POV would have allowed de Gramont the ability to dive deeper into each other psyches.
The book is narrated from the POV of Agatha's husband's (Archie) mistress, Nan O'Dea. Nan is determined to steal Archie from Agatha even after being confronted by Agatha herself. The night that Archie finally tells Agatha that he is leaving her for Nan, Agatha packs a suitcase, grabs her typewriter, and disappears in her car. However, the car is later found on the side of the road and Agatha is nowhere in sight. The reader goes back and forth between this current time where the whole country is searching for Agatha and Nan is laying low at a luxury hotel and Nan's past where she fell in love with an Irish boy who was sent to fight in the War. After he returned, Nan got pregnant, but her love falls deathly ill before they could be married. The boy's parents send Nan off to a convent for unwed mothers where she is starved, forced to do backbreaking labor, and witnesses the physical and sexual abuse of other girls. After giving birth to her baby, the little girl is quickly given to a family without Nan's knowledge. Nan makes it her mission to find her child again.
There are a lot of moving parts and people in The Christie Affair and surprisingly not much of it has to do with Agatha Christie herself. While it uses her story as a basis, this is really a book about fictional character Nan O'Dea. In the beginning I wasn't sure how I would feel about this or her character, but Nina de Gramont did a great job at building Nan's character and getting you to feel sympathetic to a her despite doing some rather unfavorable things. Her story is actually the strongest in my opinion. Agatha is in the story and she plays a role, but don't go into it feeling like she is going to be a focal point. One thing that I think The Christie Affair could have benefited from was multiple POV narrators. Nan tells the whole story including other character's activities and thoughts at times when she wasn't there. Nan explains in the book how that was possible, but I think actually getting to hear the character's thoughts from their own POV would have allowed de Gramont the ability to dive deeper into each other psyches.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Child death, and Sexual assault