Every mystery book lover knows Agatha Christie, the best-selling English author who crafted ingenious plots for her many whodunits. Christie had a mystery in her own life as well.
The facts are as follows: In December, 1926 Agatha's husband Archie Christie announced he was divorcing Agatha to marry his mistress. The next day Agatha vanished, and her car - containing a suitcase with her clothes - was found perched above a chalk quarry.
There was a hue and cry throughout England, and a massive police search for the missing writer. Eleven days later Agatha was found in a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, claiming she couldn't remember what happened.....and Agatha stuck to that story for the rest of her life
In this book, author Nina de Gramont fashions a fictional tale about Agatha's disappearance.
*****
The story is narrated by Nan O'Dea, the 'other woman' in Archie Christie's life.
Agatha Christie's husband of twelve years, Archie Christie, is besotted with Nan O'Dea - with whom he's been having an affair for a couple of years.
In December 1926 Archie tells Agatha he wants a divorce, as he's determined to marry Nan. Upper class British women like Agatha are expected to keep a stiff upper lip, but Agatha is devastated. The next day Agatha vanishes, leaving the Christie's school age daughter Teddy in the care of her nanny.
Agatha Christie when she was a young woman
Agatha Christie with her little daughter
Agatha is already a famous writer, and her disappearance reverberates throughout Great Britain. Police around the country are put on alert, and Agatha's picture is in newspapers everywhere. Many people, including Archie, fear that Agatha is dead, perhaps having taken her own life.
The police use dogs to hunt for Agatha Christie, fearing she might be dead
Nan is fully aware of the pain she's caused Agatha, with whom she's well acquainted. Nan and the Christies travel in some of the same social circles, and Nan has been a guest in the Christies' home. Nevertheless Nan purposely set out to wrest Archie away from Agatha, for reasons of her own.
Much of the book is Nan's backstory, which is rather tragic. Nan was raised in a working class family in England, and spent many summers with relatives in Ireland, working on their farm. As a girl, Nan lost a beloved older sister and fell in love with an Irish boy called Finbarr, who went off to fight in World War I.
Finbarr survived the fighting but came down with the terrible Spanish Flu, and - for various reasons - this was dreadful for Nan. Nan uses this history to justify breaking up the Christies' marriage.
In any case, Nan makes herself scarce when Agatha disappears, since Archie doesn't want Nan drawn into a public scandal. So Nan checks into a classy hotel/spa in Harrogate.
As luck would have it, a husband and wife in the resort die under suspicious circumstances while Nan is in residence. A policeman named Chilton, who's in the area searching for Agatha Christie, is assigned to investigate the deaths of the couple, which at first glance looks like a murder-suicide.
Meanwhile, Agatha also happens to be in the vicinity of Harrogate, having an adventure of her own.
Agatha tries to stay under the radar, but some people think she looks a lot like that writer whose photo is in the newspaper. 😃 After eleven days Agatha is found, none the worse for wear except she has 'amnesia' about her disappearance. To say more would be a spoiler.
In some ways the plot mimics a REAL Agatha Christie story, with plenty of surprises and twists, and an unexpected murderer revealed at the climax.
I enjoyed the story but didn't like most of the main characters - including Agatha, Archie, and Nan - who are self-serving and badly behaved. I do applaud the book for addressing problems faced by women of the time, many of whom had little control over their own lives.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lucy Scott, who does a fine job.
Thanks to Netgalley, Nina de Gramont, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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