Sunday, July 14, 2024

Apples Never Fall

            


Title: Apples Never Fall
Author: Liane Moriarty
Published: Henry Holt & Co., September 14, 2021
Pages: 474
Genre: Domestic Thriller

The Delaney family love one another dearly - it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other....

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after 50 years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children - Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke - were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure - but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.

Sometimes I truly love the surprises that I get when I don't read the blurbs for books. Like how I had no clue this was about a family of tennis players. I love tennis. 

I'm not sure why I was totally shocked about the fact that this didn't have a super tragic ending. It's like I'd forgotten the other Liane Moriarty twists. They contain tragedy, but are not super tragic. This was actually kind of beautiful. The story of a family and all of their love and mistakes.

The author is a master of a red herring and so good at leading you down some pretty dark paths. She makes her characters face their very worst selves, and then somehow she's there to remind you that the world will always regress to the mean. It's very very good. 

Ratings
Stars: 4/5

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