Apples Never Fall (TV), A Review

Secrets run in the Family.

Apples Never Fall Book Review.

The TV Adaptation of Apples Never Fall follows The Delaney family- Mother and Father Joy (Anette Bening, Captain Marvel) and Stan (Sam Neill, Flack) and their four adult children Amy (Alison Brie, Happiest Season), Troy (Jake Lacy, The White Lotus), Logan (Conor Merrigan Turner) and Brooke (Essie Randles)– as their lives are thrown into turmoil after Joy seemingly disappears without a trace. The family had previously ran a successful tennis coaching school but after Joy and Stan chose to retire they found themselves stuck in a rut, eventually taking in stranger off the street Savannah (Georgia Flood, American Princess) after she came to their door bloodied and frantic.

The next few months see Savannah becoming part of the family (much to the annoyance of the siblings) before she then disappeared with a trace all over again, shortly followed by Joy’s own disappearance. The siblings then begin to wonder whether she could be involved but the police pay more attention to Stan, especially after he appears with a scratch on his face and refuses to answer their questions. As the investigation wears on secrets begin to come out and the Delaney siblings realise how much they are all hiding from each other. In the end though only one person really knows where Joy is and the family must put aside their differences if they ever hope to see her again.

Apples Never Fall has never been my favourite of Moriarty’s novels (although it’s far from my least favourite either) but I was still interested to see how the show would be adapted, especially with the success of her previous book to TV adaptations (Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers). I do think because it’s been nearly two years since I did first read and because the plot never massively stuck with me I did forget some parts of the story and so I did kind of enjoy reliving this mystery again, as though for the first time. Apart from the characters themselves the only thing I really remembered was that Joy didn’t actually die and so this was still enjoyable for me as both a mystery and a direct adaptation. Like I said the book was never a top read for me but I think like with all of Moriarty’s adaptations it ended up being a fun watch overall.

The Delaney family and their relationships with each other were completely central to the series and I really enjoyed the performances from each, some of the characters weren’t exactly how I pictured them when first reading but I think each actor was able to make the character their own. I liked how we got a central episode for each family member, exploring their own history as well as their reactions to Joy’s disappearance and how they then dealt with this. I do think I would have liked if Savannah herself also had a more in-depth episode but on the whole I enjoyed the sibling’s dynamic and their growing suspicion of Stan throughout.

I enjoyed Savannah as a character and I think because it had been so long since I first read I had actually forgotten what her motivations were and whether her intentions were good or bad. In this regard I got to figure out the character alongside the Delaney siblings and I did really like the mystery of this complete stranger planting herself into Joy and Stan’s lives. The situation itself was just bizarre and I think that Flood did a great job at portraying this morally questionable person who could have been either a harmless stranger or someone out to hurt the family. I think even in spite of the end reveal Savannah still had her good qualities and I did really love her relationship with Joy, it was complex and messy and perfect for a mystery drama.

One of the things I do remember liking the most from the book was the Delaney family dynamic and a lot of the flashbacks exploring the sibling’s childhoods and relationships with each other. Despite focussing on Joy’s disappearance Apples Never Fall was never your classic mystery in the same way an Agatha Christie novel would be and instead the book really focussed on the family and their own issues with each other, unfortunately I do think this is one aspect that the TV series failed on. Like I said the mystery was never really at the book’s forefront but I think the show changes this and amps up the criminal elements, forgoing a lot of the character development in the process. We get next to no family flashbacks and most of the stuff with Harry (Giles Matthey, 1BR) and the tennis environment is watered down or omitted completely. Instead the show treats this as your classic mystery thriller when really that was never what the book was about (to me anyway). I loved learning about these characters and their very messy history but so much of that isn’t in the show and I do think it’s a shame.

Overall this was a pretty decent adaptation and whilst Apples Never Fall was never my favourite Moriarty novel I do think that the show did a great job at adapting the story for TV and retelling the narrative in a different way. Whilst the casting overall was good and I enjoyed the performances throughout I wish we’d gotten a little more family focus rather than so much on the mystery of Joy’s disappearance. I did still enjoy watching though and I definitely look forward to whichever of Moriarty’s books gets adapted next (I’m personally crossing my fingers for The Last Anniversary!).

Apples Never Fall, A Review

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

Three Wishes Review. The Last Anniversary Review. The Husband’s Secret Review. The Hypnotist’s Love Story Review. Truly Madly Guilty Review. Nine Perfect Strangers Review. What Alice Forgot Review. Big Little Lies Review.

Apples Never Fall follows the Delaney family- husband and wife Stan and Joy and their four children Amy, Troy, Logan and Brooke. The Delaney’s are a tennis focused family and Stan and Joy ran a successful coaching school for years with each of the four children playing but never becoming anything special. Now that the four children have grown up Stan and Joy struggle in their retirement and yearn for their more active days. This all changes with the sudden arrival of Savannah, a stranger from the street who turns up on Stan and Joy’s doorstep, claiming to be on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Joy welcomes Savannah in with open arms and soon enough she has become a live-in house guest who regularly cooks for the couple, much to the alarm of the Delaney children. Amy, Troy, Logan and Brooke all suspect that something must be wrong with Savannah and that she is scamming their parents in some way but they are unable to come up with any solid proof, leaving them in a difficult situation.

Fast forward a few months however and Joy has gone missing and hasn’t been seen for a few days. Leaving only a cryptic text behind on her phone Joy seems to vanish into thin air, leaving her clothes phone and wallet behind, puzzling both the police and Delaney family. Could Savannah have something to do with Joy’s disappearance or does the mystery lie a lot closer to home? As the Delaney siblings attempt to figure out where their mother has vanished to they realise that their parents marriage is far from perfect and a lifetime of resentments and secrets have built up into something quite explosive. Where is Joy really and is she ever planning on coming home? And more importantly is she still even alive to do so?

I really enjoy Moriarty’s style of writing and her focus on family and complex relationships. Often her book’s include crimes or darker situations but the focus is on the characters and not the situation itself. In Apples Never Fall the book may have began with Joy’s disappearance but the main draw was the Delaney family and their messy history and feelings towards each other. Obviously Joy’s disappearance is addressed and ultimately resolved but unlike a typical crime novel that would spend the majority of time looking at the who, Moriarty looks at the why and all the events leading up to morning of.

The Delaney family and their tennis fuelled childhoods made for an interesting character study. I loved the insights into each character’s lives and childhoods and how they then grew as adults. As I said above Moriarty often writes in a way where the characters are more of a selling point than the situation itself and I really loved diving into the Delaney’s past and seeing how each member was shaped as a child and how this then effected them in the present day. Joy and Stan’s marriage, the tennis academy, Harry and the children’s adult relationships (or lack thereof) were all explored throughout and I enjoyed the long chapters, often exploring tense famiky dinners or discussions were an argument would break out, further tearing the family apart. I also liked how we got the POV’s from various strangers, friends and neighbours in the Delaney family’s lives, Moriarty wrote in a similar way in her debut novel Three Wishes and I liked how we got the perspectives of so many different characters, it’s a unique way to tell a story.

I enjoyed the character of Savannah and her role in the story. Her relationship with Joy and the rest of the family was an interesting one and I liked how despite everything she did, she and Joy did cone to form a sort of friendship. Throughout we never really knew what Savannah’s motives were until the very end or if she’d had a role in Joy’s disappearance so I liked how we slowly got to know this character at the same time as the Delaney’s, meaning we were just as in the dark as they were.

The ending of Apples Never Fall, or rather the last few chapters felt a little bit disjointed from the rest of the main story and I honestly think the book might have been better just finishing with Joy coming home. Bringing COVID into the story broke the illusion in a way and it’s like I got pulled out of the story and back into the real world, something readers don’t always want when they’re really enjoying a novel (which I was). By mentioning COVID I just got reminded all over again of the real world and I felt a bit deflated. On top of this the last few chapters dodn’t really add anything brilliant to the story and just felt like Moriarty was needlessly tying up loose ends, it was a bizzare end to say the least.

Overall I really loved this one and it might just be my new favourite by Moriarty (it’s definitely at the top of my list). The Delaney family and the complex relationships between them made for a great read and I loved the mystery of Joy’s disappearance. An intriuiging read on the complexity of family, Apples Never Fall was another great by Moriarty.