The Christie affair

Title:

The Christie affair

Author:

Summary:

"Every story has its secrets. Every mystery has its motives. "A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It's a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it's like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There's a joy to it. In retrospect, it's frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet." The greatest mystery wasn't Agatha Christie's disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it's what she discovered. London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O'Dea became Archie Christie's mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie. The question is, why? Why destroy another woman's marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O'Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?"-- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

"Reese's book club"--Jacket.

Edition:

First US edition

Physical Description:

311 pages ; 25 cm

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Personal Subject:

Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Mistresses -- Fiction.

Adultery -- Fiction.

Murder -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- History -- George V, 1910-1936 -- Fiction.

Publisher:

St. Martin's Press,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781250274618

9781250282132

Publication Information:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2022.

Call Number:

GRAMONT

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003581454	Adult Fiction	GRAMONT Nina de	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
33607003553909	Adult Fiction	GRAMONT Nina de	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Why would the world's most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman's marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?

"Sizzles from its first sentence." - The Wall Street Journal
A Reese's Book Club Pick

In 1925, Miss Nan O'Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life--first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie's mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan's plot didn't begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.

It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together--until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.

What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont's brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.

Author Notes

Nina de Gramont is a professor of Creative Writing at University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She is the author of THE LAST SEPTEMBER (Algonquin 2015) as well as several Young Adult novels.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

De Gramont (The Last September) offers an intriguing new theory of why Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days in this superior thriller, which places the woman Christie's husband, Archie, was having an affair with at the time--here the fictional Nan O'Dea--at its center. A gripping opening sentence teases O'Dea's dark side ("A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman"). In December 1926, Archie decides to reveal the affair to his wife, to whom the news comes as no surprise. Agatha, however, is taken aback by her husband's declaration that he is both leaving her and seeking a divorce. A day later, the world-famous mystery author vanishes, and her abandoned car is found near a body of water notorious for corpses being found in it, leading some to suspect the writer killed herself. Flashbacks flesh out the backstory of O'Dea, who at 19 was sent to a convent by the head of the family she was working for in Ireland after getting pregnant by his son. De Gramont treats O'Dea's story with sympathy and care, highlighting the bleak circumstances for both women in the historical period and teasing out the motivations for breaking up the Christies' marriage. This is an enjoyable reimagining of a scandal whose exact nature remains a puzzle a century later. (Feb.)

Library Journal Review

In her third adult novel (after The Last September), de Gramont tells the story of Agatha Christie's famous 11-day disappearance, from the point of view of her husband Colonel Christie's mistress, Nan O'Dea. In 1926, Agatha Christie went missing after her husband told her he wanted a divorce. As this story unfolds, the search for Agatha and the description of her time away are intertwined with Nan's life story, including her stay in an Irish home for single pregnant women run by nuns. In the fashionable spa town of Harrogate, Nan and Agatha meet up, and romances, secrets on all sides, long-held grudges, and a house dubbed the "Timeless Manor" result in a fascinating, if unlikely, explanation of what happened during those 11 days. De Gramont has done her research, resulting in a story that transports readers to early 20th-century Ireland and the English countryside. VERDICT True to the spirit of Christie, a surprising murder rounds out this tale; recommended for Christie fans and those who enjoyed Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.--Terry Lucas