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.)
Booklist Review
De Gramont bases this fanciful reimagining of actual events in the life of Agatha Christie on the author's mysterious, 11-day disappearance in December 1926, shortly after Christie's husband, Archie, revealed he was having an affair and wanted a divorce. Told from the point of view of Nan O'Dea, the fictionalized name of the "other woman" with whom Archie was linked, the story reveals Nan's early--and difficult--life, which goes some way toward explaining her affair with Archie. Born in London, she spent summers in Ireland and there fell in love with Finbarr Mahoney. Conscripted to fight in WWI, Finbarr came back a changed man. Nan, meanwhile, had her own life-changing tragedies to deal with. She disappears around the same time as Agatha Christie, and the two end up becoming friends of a sort. Agatha eventually returns home, but her life--and Nan's--have changed dramatically. The author weaves a clever, highly original, mesmerizing tale filled with strange and unexpected turns and concludes it in an unexpected but wholly satisfying manner. With its superb writing, strong characterizations, and wonderfully imaginative plot, this is a must-read for fans of romance, history, or mystery.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The story of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance has been the subject of numerous books and movies, and this latest take, offering a new point of view, will once again draw those ever-curious about just what happened.
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