The Christie Affair

This section revisits Nan’s past as she tries to justify her actions toward the Christies. Despite being the story’s protagonist, she has been kept intentionally one-dimensional to this point. The reader knows enough to understand that there is a connection between her actions and her earlier experiences in Ireland, but there is no indication yet of what that connection might be. Moving farther back in time, Nan is shown to be a rambunctious tomboy—another image in conflict with the feminine seductress she becomes in the story. The two timelines compound these contrasts in her character, building up to the dramatic question of what changed and why.

This section also introduces the reader to Finbarr, who, though not as central to the plot as the other characters, plays a key role in its direction. Had Nan never met him, none of the story’s events would have played out as they did. His character, too, becomes a study in contrast. Early on he is shown as being happy and carefree before time strips him of this disposition. Nan begins to fall in love, first with the country and then with the boy, sealing her fate before even imagining it. At her home in England, we get to know Nan’s sisters; Colleen’s story will play a part in the direction Nan takes.

In “The Disappearance,” Agatha processes the loss of her husband, although of course this is still through the eyes of our narrator Nan. Here Nan explores the psychology of her friend and rival, unraveling what she would do based on what Nan knows of her. Within this narrative, Teddy finds her way in, and the narrative asks questions about her thoughts, dreams, and imaginings. It feels as if these thoughts are an extension of Agatha’s words, that the questions are coming from her; later, we understand that these questions are more likely coming from Nan, whose mind is drifting to Teddy at that moment.

Teddy meets the strange man who later turns out to be Finbarr, taking an opportunity to see the girl for himself. Agatha and her maid are not overly concerned: “Strangers always seemed to take to Teddy. Once on the beach at Torquay a woman had scooped her up and hugged her” (56). Later we learn that this woman was Nan, and this moment brought her life and Agatha’s together.

Nan continues her narration, recounting how she and Chilton would later put their accounts together to form a whole. A brief interlude follows in which an elderly woman, Miss Annabelle Oliver, has a car wreck. This account is, of course, complete fiction that Nan has created about the woman who left Agatha and Finbarr their getaway car. Later, Nan and Teddy have their first intimate moment, falling asleep together with a story. The reader feels Nan’s affection and warmth for the girl but doesn’t yet understand why this moment is so important to her. In retrospect, we can see why both needed this connection. Later we will see more hints in Nan’s thoughts about how Teddy is faring under the weight of the disappearance.

This section closes with a turn into the present moment: “Wherever you may be sitting, reading these pages, however much time has passed” (76), reminding us that the ending to Agatha’s story has already been written. There is no threat that she may have been killed; the intrigue of the story is not in its ending but in the road it takes to get there.