The Christie Affair

Archie is a personification of wealthy, abrasive masculinity who puts his own needs before the needs of others. Early on, he says, “Somebody has got to be unhappy and I’m tired of it being me” (5). This statement effectively sums up his relationship with the world around him. Archie has no patience for physical or emotional negativity and tends to rewrite his perceptions to accommodate himself in each moment. He swings between his love for Agatha and his love for Nan, embracing each and casting each aside when it feels most convenient to him.

Archie is not malicious, cruel, or villainous, but he is a deeply flawed man who likes to be in control. This need puts him at odds with others, especially Chief Constable Thompson, who leads the investigation into Agatha’s disappearance. His single-mindedness regarding his character makes it easy for Nan to infiltrate his life—a single-mindedness which, in some respects, is reflected in Nan.

Based on the celebrated real-life writer, Agatha is a novelist who is practical and cool-headed regarding most everything apart from her husband. She loves Archie deeply and is destroyed by his betrayal but in time grows to see her own merits. Agatha is an effective foil to Nan in many ways. She is from a different social class and has a narrower view of the human condition; it is suggested that this simplicity is reflected in her novels.

Despite her practicality and upper crust English upbringing, she is more of a romantic than Nan and allows her love for Archie to guide her. This contrasts with Nan, who loves Finbarr just as deeply but does not allow it to derail her goals. Agatha enjoys feeling independent, as displayed by her pride in her work and her ability to purchase her own car with the profits from her books. She is shy and averse to the celebrity that her disappearance brings.

Finbarr is an Irish man who spent his young life drenched in internal sunlight, going through his days believing in the simplicity of wishes and dreams. Men and women of all ages are drawn to his positivity, but his time in the war drains some of it away from him. Neither the war nor learning of Nan’s mission takes away his love for her, however. His goal to bring Nan home mirrors her goal of being with her child, but Finbarr has a wider view of the world and can see their relationship with more clarity. He urges Nan to accept what she has lost and begin a new, better life.

Finbarr serves as a foil to Archie. His purity and goodness are in contrast with Archie’s arrogance and disregard for others. They both love Nan, but Finbarr’s love comes from the relationship they built together, while Archie’s love comes from the need to fill some emptiness within his life. However, they share the commonality of seeing life in simple terms, believing that happiness is not as complex and out of reach as one might think.

Chilton is a recently retired police inspector brought out of retirement to aid in the search for Agatha Christie. He carries traumas from his time in the war, as well as one damaged arm that he can no longer use. Chilton often considers suicide but prefers to wait until his mother has died so as not to cause her any pain. He shares some commonalities with Finbarr, notably his kindness and the desire to put others before himself, as well as with Nan, particularly his ability to understand and subtly manipulate the psychology of others. He has a streak of romanticism that he embraces as he grows closer to Agatha, imagining what their life together could be.

Chilton is one of the most relatable characters in the novel—one who does his best to do the right thing while battling with his morals and ethics, adept at understanding the emotions of others but not without mistakes, as illustrated in his forgetfulness after hearing the Races’ Irish accents. His memories from the war also show his humanity and compassion even towards an adversary.

Though not overtly stated, this character’s name is probably Elizabeth, of which both Bess and Lizzie are derivatives. She forms a friendship with Nan during their time at Sunday’s Corner convent, and both are faced with similar though contrasting losses: Nan’s child lives but is lost to her, while Bess leaves the convent carrying her dead child in her arms. Hers is a rare happy ending, with her American soldier coming to claim her and bringing her home. However, she spends the following years haunted by her trauma at the hands of the nun and Father Joseph. It is only through removing the former priest from the world that she can finally find the closure she needs. Bess is also fiercely protective of her younger sister, who comes to help Bess and Nan enact their revenge.