THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR by Nina de Gramont

Agatha Christie’s writing career was on the rise in 1926 when her mother died and then her husband announced his intention to leave her for his mistress. Agatha vanished with nary a trace, arousing the police and media and leaving all of England spellbound while the search for her continued for 11 days. This fictionalized version of Agatha’s disappearance unfolds with narratives shifting smoothly between events during Agatha’s 11 day disappearance and the circumstances of the mistress’s tortured past that ultimately brought her to Agatha’s husband, Archie. The two tales are woven together fantastically, with twists and turns that Agatha might have imagined in her own tales of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Much of the story focuses on Archie’s mistress, Nan, an extraordinarily complex character who makes an engagingly eclectic assortment of first person observations on love and marriage, justice, longing, grief, and anger. Many scenes are set in the quaint English countryside which is painted with an eye to historical detail. The writing balances Agatha’s privileged upbringing and refined nature with a whimsical side that seems to facilitate her disappearance and surely breeds her creative genius. The Christie Affair is suspenseful historical storytelling at its best and will surely be one of my 2023 favorites.