The Woman on the Orient Express

Status has divorced her husband and needs a change. Her disappearance years before still haunts her. She boards the Orient Express to Baghdad. On the trip she meets Nancy and Katherine both women have troubles and seeks to forget them . Read how the come together and forge a friendship.

I was not aware of the biographical nature of this book to Agatha Christie's life. It was excellently written and the intrigue made me feel it was one of her types of mystery writings. It wasn't until the afterward that I found out it was closely biographical to her life. How very adventurous!This book will keep you intrigued for sure and the characters were all so far from having any part of their lives classified as boring. It's unbelievable the amount of adventure involved in the midst of so much tragedy.There are truths to the saying that truth is stranger than fiction. This book would be something to prove that true despite it being fiction based on true facts.

I debated downloading this story. Agatha Christie as the heroine of a work of fiction? Putting real, famous authors into novels doesn't usually work for me, but I'm happy to report that Ashford did a very good job.The book takes place in 1928. Agatha Christie is still reeling after losing her mother in 1926 and almost at the same time being blindsided by her husband Archie, who tells her he has a mistress and wants a divorce. 1926-1928 was a very dark period in her life, with even a bit of a real-life mystery when she disappeared for 11 days before being found at a Harrowgate hotel. This disappearance has never been fully explained and is not even touched on in Christie's autobiography but it is not central to the plot of this book except in reference to her emotional breakdown and fragility after Archie's betrayal.Instead, what we have here is Agatha setting out incognito (as Mary Miller, widow) for Baghdad on the Orient Express, at about the time Archie and his lover are set to marry. She's hoping for a distraction and is looking to find some peace of mind. On the train, she makes the acquaintance of two other women: Nancy Nelson (fictional) and Katherine Keeling (actual person of the time). These women also have problems in their lives and, as they gradually get to know each other better, there will be a slow healing process for all three.There are fictional and real historical figures in the book and the story itself does not deviate much from the basic facts of Christie's life. She did take that trip on the Orient Express. She did spend time in Baghdad. She did visit an archaeological dig. She was emotionally fragile at that moment. However, the stories of the two women she meets on the train are imagined, even much of that of Katherine Keeling, who was a real archaeologist and did become a friend of Christie's.The other important real figures here are Leonard Wooley, head archaeologist of the dig at Ur visited by Christie, who was Keeling's husband, and, of course, Max Malloren, young archaeologist with whom Christie develops a relationship, in spite of their 14 year age difference. (No spoiler here. Max was Christie's second husband, from 1930 until her death in 1976.)When I downloaded this, I was under the misconception that there was to be a made-up mystery in the book which Christie would solve by using her "little grey cells" and the techniques of Hercules Poirot. That wasn't exactly the case. The mysteries here were just the secrets in the three women's lives that eventually are revealed. But, as such, this book is an entertaining and interesting entry in the genre of women's fiction.

For this review of The Woman on the Orient Express, I am doing something different. As my mother read the book and I listened to the audio version at the same time, I thought it would cool if we both provided our thoughts on this spectacular novel. Let’s begin shall we?Nancy's thoughts….."I loved this book! It’s a fact and fictional story of Agatha Christie’s life. Even though I have read all her novels, I never really knew anything about her. The thing that drew me in right away was the setting for the story. I have traveled to a similar part of the world, and her words brought back all the smells of the spice markets, the taste of exotic food and pastries, the Bedouin tents and the alternately hot and freezing sand dunes. Oh, to have traveled with her on the Orient Express and experience a gentler, more romantic era of travel! I have seen the places like Baghdad before they were torn and ravaged by war and this story brought back so many memories."Tamara’s thoughts…..Like my mother, I loved this book as well. Ms. Ashford did an amazing job of character development and imaginary. I could perfectly visualize each and every scene unfolding before me. I especially loved the archaeological dig scenes and the budding romance between Max and Agatha. Katherine’s story both sadden and angered me as she finally told Agatha about her ‘situation’. To have a doctor tell her what he did is beyond unforgiving and completely sickening. Then, there was Nancy. My heart broke for her as she struggled with the decision that she made.Everything about this story was perfect! The whole story of three women with different personalities meeting by chance and forming friendships that will be with them forever was beautiful. I laughed and I cried, and in the process, learned a bit about Ms. Christie. Yes, this was a fictional account, but with actual facts interweaved throughout about Agatha Christie's life really made this an outstanding read! I am ashamed to admit that I have not read any of Agatha Christie’s novels, but now that I have somewhat a glimpse of her life, I am beyond intrigued with her works and will be adding them to my reading list. There is so much to love in The Woman on the Orient Express and I am glad that I gave it a chance as this is not something I normally would have picked up to read.The audio version of this book was narrated by Justine Eyre and her performance was outstanding and absolutely delightful. With her lyrical voice and amazing accents, I could not stop listening as she drew me into this emotional story. Her pacing was just right and the production quality was outstanding.Both Nancy and I give The Woman on the Orient Express 5 stars and would highly recommend it to not only Agatha Christie fans, but anyone looking for a great book to read.

I normally don't read books that aren't in this time. I ended up with another book by this author and loved it enough to get another one. This is the other and it's nothing like the first, but just as good. I couldn't put it down. This book is about Agatha Christie. Some truth and lots of fiction, it doesn't matter, it's just a really great book and of a different time.

I have always loved Agatha Christie 's books, have read most of them and have the whole collection in my bookcase, therefore I was curious about this novel. I know that it is fiction based on facts from Agatha's life. It is an enjoyable book, characters are believable and the story flowing, I really liked reading it, and listening to an audible version. Now I have Max Mallowan's memoirs and I am going to read them with pleasure,as am interested in archaeology too.☺

I don’t think you need to know anything about Agatha Christie’s life to enjoy this book. But if, like me, you know something of it, you will love this story. I truly could not put it down, and I will certainly reread it again sometime. An engrossing and imaginative telling of a phase in Agatha’s life.

I have an uneasy relationship with books of this nature - you take a real person and a real event or two and then smoosh them up with fabricated emotions and events. All too often they feel, at the bare minimum, strangely voyeuristic. Somehow the author has managed to weave the reality and the fantasy together in a completely compelling way that keeps you turning the pages eagerly.The main thrust of the novel takes place after the well-publicised "Harrogate Incident" and follows Agatha Christie on a solo trip abroad on the magnificent Orient Express. A rail journey that she is both looking forward too immensely and dreading in no small measure. What starts off as an exploration of Ms Christie's state of mind after her divorce soon explodes in to a tale of female friendship and the rebuilding of three women's lives. There is also a little mystery thrown in for good measure - how could there not be with the Orient Express and Agatha Christie involved.The descriptions of the scenery are lush and inviting. I am not one for travelling but the landscapes and the smells are so evocative within the pages that I did find myself somewhat tempted to experience them for myself. In particular the scenes at Ur really helped you feel the oppressive heat, the grit of the sand getting in to every nook and cranny and the thrill of new discoveries - in more ways than one for Agatha.It is not all about Agatha Christie and the landscapes, or even the train. It is about her travelling companions Nancy and Katherine too. Their stories are just as compelling and Agatha's and, in many ways, much more tragic. Although not everyone featured was a real person who definitely knew Agatha Christie or was certainly in the same social circle so could be postulated to have known her there is such a taut blend between fact and fiction that even the genuinely fictional characters and events feel real. This particularly applies to Nancy and her rather shocking, for the times, predicament.I also enjoyed the tiny section at the end where the author takes the time to recommend further reading for the "true" story of what happened during those years and also to lay out what liberties she had taken with both the timeline of certain meetings and events in Agatha Christie's life. I have never read any Agatha Christie novels or really knew much more about her than her disappearing off to Harrogate - having read this book it has made me somewhat intrigued to learn more about her and maybe read some of her books.

It was predictable. The synopsis led me to believe that it would have more to it, a lot more twists and turns, but no such surprising turn of events took place. It's definitely a decent read, considering it barely costs anything.

A story that has you reading to the end of the chapter and before you know it you’ve read on another two or three. A book has to get your attention right from the start to keep you turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next..........and this story does exactly that. An enjoyable read and even though the main character is Agatha Christie and others that are real people and others that are just characters for the story it all works out very well and draws you in to their world. Definitely would recommend to others to read and will look out for other novels by Lindsay Jayne Ashford.