The Christie Affair
In 1926, renowned mystery author Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days. When found, she claimed not to remember anything, a story she stuck to for the rest of her life. From there the mystery is filleted down to its two main players, Agatha and husband, Archie, into which is inserted a fiction arguably far more interesting than the actual events. What is known is that Archie and Agatha argued on December 3, 1926, after which he left to spend time with his mistress, Nancy Neele, and Agatha disappeared without a trace. Agatha did not stay missing, so we have the beginning and the end; but what about the middle?
Recalling her earlier life, our fictional Nan recounts her childhood, her teenage pregnancy, her forced convent incarceration, her daughter’s birth, and Finbarr’s (Nan’s childhood sweetheart and the baby’s father) ignorance of her whereabouts, even after her escape. Despite her undying love for Finbarr, Nan sets her sights on Archie Christie, winning him over with ease. Thus begins the tangled web of Nan’s introspective story, gradually shedding light on her choices and motivations.
Readers are immediately drawn to the congenial Nan as she talks informally to us, sometimes questioning whether we have figured something out before she has had time to explain it, sometimes asking us to defer judgment and just listen. In 1926, the complex supporting cast plays out their roles superbly in a cleverly contrived plot. Through young Nan’s ordeal, we get an unpleasant immersion in Irish history―Catholic convents, abused girls, molestation by priests, endless punishment for fabricated sins, forced adoptions, and pious nuns who turn a blind eye.
An engrossing work which lends itself well to circumstances Agatha herself chose to stay mum about, and which remains one of England’s most fascinating unsolved mysteries.
