Forgive the metaphor, but it’s irresistible - you feel like you’re reading a tennis match, turning your head left, right, left, right, as the story unspools. Moriarty goes deep into each characters’ head as we learn all about their lives and relationships. We’re also treated to chapters from the perspective of Detective Senior Constable Christina Khoury and her partner, who at the request of two of the Delaney children are now investigating Joy as a “missing person.” Her interviews with all the key characters are intercut with flashbacks to September as the authorities try to piece together the puzzle. We’re quickly introduced to a mystery character, Savannah, who shows up at the Delaneys’ door one night with a “fresh, deep cut just beneath her right eyebrow.” Joy invites her in and mothers her to the point where she’s soon eating casserole and spending the night in Amy’s childhood bed. The narrative then jumps back and forth from the present to “September,” the month of Joy’s disappearance. She isn’t replying to messages or answering her phone. She sent a cryptic text to them all and hasn’t been seen for days. The novel opens with the sibling quartet in a cafe, trying to figure out where their mother could be. They have four adult children - Troy, Brooke, Logan and Amy - whose childhoods were dominated by the sport that paid all the family’s bills, but who now earn a living outside tennis. Meet the Delaneys, who are sure to be an A-List ensemble cast in the years ahead: There’s Stan, stoic patriarch and erstwhile tennis coach, his wife, Joy, his doubles partner on the court and in life, who managed the family tennis academy for years and is now trying to “retire with grace” and longing for grandchildren. Who knew there were so many tennis metaphors for life? Australian novelist Liane Moriarty shares them all and probably creates a few of her own in “Apples Never Fall.” Their four adult children are busy living their own lives, and while it could be argued they never quite achieved their destinies, no-one ever says that out loud.īut now Joy Delaney has disappeared and her children are re-examining their parents’ marriage and their family history with fresh, frightened eyes.“Apples Never Fall,” by Liane Moriarty (Henry Holt and Company) Even after all these years, former tennis coaches Joy and Stan are still winning tournaments, and now they’ve sold the family business they have all the time in the world to learn how to ‘relax'. The brand new novel from the worldwide Number One bestselling author behind Nine Perfect Strangers and the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Little Lies.įrom the outside, the Delaneys appear to be an enviably contented family.
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