Apples Never Fall
-
-
4.0 • 4.3K Ratings
-
-
- $1.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller ● A Peacock Original TV Series–Now Streaming! ● "Gripping."―Oprah.com
● From Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.
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 fifty 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Liane Moriarty’s clever mystery is packed full of the brilliant twists and comic touches we’ve come to expect from the author of Big Little Lies. Empty nester Joy Delaney and her irritable husband, Stan, are newly retired and pretty bored. When a troubled young woman shows up at their doorstep in need of help, Joy happily eschews her illness-related podcasts to offer the girl some help. Weeks later, Joy goes missing, leaving the Delaneys’ four grown children in a bind. If they report their mom’s disappearance, the police will surely think their father did it—because maybe he did. Moriarty made us laugh out loud with her portrayal of the family dysfunction at the heart of the story, from Joy’s description of “Stan-splaining” to the couple’s arguments about what “streaming” actually means. Part domestic thriller and part witty suburban comedy, Apples Never Fall is a blast to read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Sydney, Australia, this engrossing psychological thriller from bestseller Moriarty (Nine Perfect Strangers) centers on Joy and Stan Delaney, who have been married for 50 years and are discontented in their retirement. Joy often fantasizes about their four grown children giving them grandchildren to help them out of their rut. One night, a young woman appears at the Delaneys' door. Introducing herself as Savannah, she claims she's a victim of domestic abuse and has the injuries to show for it. The couple welcome Savannah into their home, where she soon becomes a permanent guest. Eventually, the Delaney children notice oddities in Savannah's behavior and suggest it may be time for her to leave. Tension builds between Joy and Stan, and suddenly she vanishes. The police and two of the Delaney children believe Stan is responsible for her disappearance as he won't talk about it. Moriarty expertly delves into the innermost thoughts of each of the children, exposing secrets unbeknownst to each other; artfully balances the present-day plot with revealing backstory; and offers several different possibilities for what happened to Joy. Only the overlong conclusion disappoints. Moriarty's superb storytelling continues to shine.
Customer Reviews
Good read
A little slow at times, I stopped and started reading this book several times. But it all wraps up nicely. Love the Aussie and tennis tie ins.
page turner
compelling mystery wrapped up in a delicious story of family life with four children . A telling of cherished memories and the sometimes overwhelming urge to beat those siblings when it came to the parent’s love and attention. All of this overlayed by a story of a marriage both ordinary and extraordinary. A must read.
Exhausted
Love this author and her work. This book started out good, looked forward to reading it. Then it was impossible. Every current event in story immediately flopped back to the past. Way too much useless description of characters, tedious. Finally finished and my summary is if you want to read this author go back to old books because this was bad!