Madeline
Apples Never Fall starts with a waitress at a diner overhearing a group of four people talking about their mother’s disappearance. They cannot believe she disappeared without letting anyone know. All she left was a text message that made no sense. And this is just the beginning of finding out the truth about Joy’s disappearance. The rest of the book, stories start to unfold regarding Joy, her children, her husband, and must suspicious of all, a stranger who showed up at their door a few months before the disappearance.
Premise of Apples Never Fall
Joy, the matriarch of the Australian tennis playing Delaney family, has gone missing. No one knows where she went. She sent her four children a text message that made no sense. She left her cell phone behind, which was later found under the bed. With the pressure of new retirement and a long marriage, Joy’s husband, Stan, is the most likely suspect; however, there is one aspect that is also suspicious about Joy’s disappearance.
A few months prior to Joy’s disappearance, Savanah, a small tattooed girl in her 30’s, showed up at Joy and Stan’s front door with nothing but the clothes on her back. Savanah had claimed to have escaped a violent boyfriend by taking a cab as far as could and then found the most friendly house, which happens to be the Delaney house. Joy and Stan took Savanah in as though she were their own child, which did not sit right with Joy and Stan’s actual children. Savanah cooked and cleaned and took care of the couple in their retirement. What adds to the suspicious nature, is that Savanah also has not been seen since Joy’s disappearance either.
Tennis And It’s Importance In Joy’s Disappearance
One of the first things we find out about the Delaney family is that they eat and breath tennis. Joy and Stan met while playing tennis and both turned their passion of playing tennis into a profession, at first by playing and then by opening a tennis school. We quickly learn that each of the Delaney children were also on the verge of becoming professional tennis players. And we learn later in the book Savanah’s connection to the family’s love of tennis. This book talks about tennis so much, I found myself Googling all about tennis while reading this book.
Final Thoughts
Apples Never Fall is a light missing person book that was easy to read. Although it could be considered a crime novel, it is on the lighter side than most crime novels. The characters of the family and Savanah each have their own stories. These stories all weave into Joy’s disappearance and as the story unravels it starts to explain where Joy went.
