suddenlyjamie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lydaalexander's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this historical fiction about Agatha Christie’s disappearance - the portrayal of both her character and her husband’s, and the narrative switching from their history to after the disappearance really hooked me into the story.
reeqreads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Actual ⭐️ 3.8/5
This is a fiction novel based on Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance for 11 days in 1926. It’s recounted that her disappearance happened after her mother had recently passed away and her husband announced his love for another woman and demanded a divorce. Many speculates that Agatha suffered a fugue state from trauma, memory loss, or even staged her disappearance as a publicity stunt to increase sales of her books. Agatha herself never discussed the reason for her disappearance and neither mention it in her autobiography; she explained “So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it. I stood out for a year, hoping he would change. But he did not. So ended my first married life.”
In the novel, Agatha described “…the sort of young woman I might have been, naturally plucky and adventuresome but who, in the end, turned out more like myself, a woman who made sacrifices for the man she loves.” Agatha expressed she was shackled into putting her husband, Archibald “Archie” Christie above all else.
The story is both maddening and heartbreaking. Here, we have Agatha who had a brilliant mind, an adventurous character, and passion but married to a man who was dull and wanted order in life. Even though he was the one who pursued her then seemed to punished her for being all those things and made her change herself to a “good wife” to keep him happy; but her sacrifices were never enough. In one of the author’s interview, she confirmed that most of the things she wrote about what Archie did actually happened, which makes it even more sad—to learn that Agatha experienced them. It was so infuriating how he wants to protect his mistress so badly and could care less about Agatha.
Even though the chapters are short and I was really excited to read a story based of Agatha Christie—since she’s one of my favourite authors—it took me so long to finish this book. I think it had a good attempt in creating the mystery but I just didn’t get sucked in like expected. I was more engrossed in my rage towards Archie which ultimately took my attention away from the mystery.
I thought the story would be about his affair being revealed so I found it anticlimactic when it was mentioned so casually. In the end, it was satisfying how Agatha made him squirm and took control of their story ensuring that his infidelity is known and that he is the reason for the failure of their marriage and not due to any deficiency of Agatha as a wife.
Overall, ‘The Mystery of Mrs. Christie’ explores a version of Agatha‘s disappearance as her regaining control of her life and changing the narrative of her story.
This is a fiction novel based on Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance for 11 days in 1926. It’s recounted that her disappearance happened after her mother had recently passed away and her husband announced his love for another woman and demanded a divorce. Many speculates that Agatha suffered a fugue state from trauma, memory loss, or even staged her disappearance as a publicity stunt to increase sales of her books. Agatha herself never discussed the reason for her disappearance and neither mention it in her autobiography; she explained “So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it. I stood out for a year, hoping he would change. But he did not. So ended my first married life.”
In the novel, Agatha described “…the sort of young woman I might have been, naturally plucky and adventuresome but who, in the end, turned out more like myself, a woman who made sacrifices for the man she loves.” Agatha expressed she was shackled into putting her husband, Archibald “Archie” Christie above all else.
The story is both maddening and heartbreaking. Here, we have Agatha who had a brilliant mind, an adventurous character, and passion but married to a man who was dull and wanted order in life. Even though he was the one who pursued her then seemed to punished her for being all those things and made her change herself to a “good wife” to keep him happy; but her sacrifices were never enough. In one of the author’s interview, she confirmed that most of the things she wrote about what Archie did actually happened, which makes it even more sad—to learn that Agatha experienced them. It was so infuriating how he wants to protect his mistress so badly and could care less about Agatha.
Even though the chapters are short and I was really excited to read a story based of Agatha Christie—since she’s one of my favourite authors—it took me so long to finish this book. I think it had a good attempt in creating the mystery but I just didn’t get sucked in like expected. I was more engrossed in my rage towards Archie which ultimately took my attention away from the mystery.
I thought the story would be about his affair being revealed so I found it anticlimactic when it was mentioned so casually. In the end, it was satisfying how Agatha made him squirm and took control of their story ensuring that his infidelity is known and that he is the reason for the failure of their marriage and not due to any deficiency of Agatha as a wife.
Overall, ‘The Mystery of Mrs. Christie’ explores a version of Agatha‘s disappearance as her regaining control of her life and changing the narrative of her story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
danni_k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
dianaross1997's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
chailady's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
xinaxinaxina's review against another edition
2.0
The concept of this book drew me in—the question of what happened to Agatha is a mystery of its own making. But this book fell flat for me. Far too contrived to even be considered historical fiction, and frankly even contrarian to some known facts about Christie. Christie was known to hate publicity and crowds, yet this tale seems to ignore that. Also, I didn’t appreciate the idea that all Christie did was for her husband. She was one of the great female writers of her time and describing her as a simple emotional wife seems to short change Christie and her accomplishments. Benedict simply tried to ‘Gone Girl’ this mystery, and it was not for me.
bkish's review against another edition
4.0
For many years I was reading Agatha Christie's mystery novels with the character of Hercule Poirot and also Mrs Marple.
This book is by the very talented former lawyer Marie Benedict. She is on a mission to write mostly about women and our lives and to focus on women who have been in the forefront in some area yet have been held down by society and mores and wrongful expectations.
Here she zeroed in on something that happened in 1926 in England when Agatha Christie who had already been a successful writer with 3 of her mystery novels well read and was also a wife and a mother and a daughter and a sister and for a period of some days she disappeared.
This book moves back and forth on a date in 1912 and the disappearance date in 1926 and moves between her talking back in 1912 when she met and married (big mistake) Archibald Christie and in 1926 when he who has decided to divorce and go with another lady Nancy in marriage. The last parts of the book are after this event of her disappearance ends and how Agatha gets back her Life...
Judy g
This book is by the very talented former lawyer Marie Benedict. She is on a mission to write mostly about women and our lives and to focus on women who have been in the forefront in some area yet have been held down by society and mores and wrongful expectations.
Here she zeroed in on something that happened in 1926 in England when Agatha Christie who had already been a successful writer with 3 of her mystery novels well read and was also a wife and a mother and a daughter and a sister and for a period of some days she disappeared.
This book moves back and forth on a date in 1912 and the disappearance date in 1926 and moves between her talking back in 1912 when she met and married (big mistake) Archibald Christie and in 1926 when he who has decided to divorce and go with another lady Nancy in marriage. The last parts of the book are after this event of her disappearance ends and how Agatha gets back her Life...
Judy g
cherylleem's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this deep dive into the mind and life of Agatha Christie. Her disappearance for 11 days in 1926 swirled in speculation and controversy, Marie Benedict again brings a fascinating woman, author, and mysterious story to life in this fast paced, engaging read. Perfect for fans of historical fiction featuring real women and their stories, as well as Christie fans.
dapperreads's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Well this was an enjoyable telling of the days when Ms Agatha Christie went missing. I must say, I enjoy this telling more than others I’ve read. It felt more believable and honestly super sneaky. I really did like it.
The ending left a bit to be desired. There’s a sort of epilogue and it’s honestly so short it felt unnecessary but at the same time it was what wrapped up the story in the end. While I didn’t love the back and forth, I did like that this format gave us the whole story and we got to experience the manuscript being written as well as what was going on to locate the missing Mrs Christie.
I think I’m going 4⭐️. It had its ups and downs. It’s a quick listen with a great narrator but there’s something about it that just keeps it from being one I loved. Maybe book club will help me figure out what that is.