Apple Tree Yard - Louise Doughty

[goodreads]

Title: Apple Tree Yard
Author: Louise Doughty
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~14hours
Date read: January, 2021

Yvonne Carmichael sits in the witness box. The charge is murder. Before all of this, she was happily married, a successful scientist, a mother of two. Now she's a suspect, squirming under fluorescent lights and the penetrating gaze of the alleged accomplice who's sitting across from her, watching: a man who's also her lover. As Yvonne faces hostile questioning, she must piece together the story of her affair with this unnamed figure who has charmed and haunted her. This is a tale of sexual intrigue, ruthless urges, and danger, which has blindsided her from a seemingly innocuous angle. Here in the courtroom, everything hinges on one night in a dark alley called Apple Tree Yard.


I'm having a hard time deciding what I think of this book. It was well-written, and extremely well narrated by Juliet Stevenson and while I never really got to care for the main character - I don't actually think you were supposed to...

And therein lies the rub, I guess. I WANT to be able to care for the main characters in whatever book I'm reading - otherwise what's the point? But I found it really hard to relate to Yvonne, and spent most of the time more curious about the court case, than about the flashbacks showing how she got there in the first place.

The book was never boring though, and there were a few times where I got furious on her behalf. This book should definitely come with a trigger warning for rape and the victim shaming that may come with it. Elaborating on that point would be a spoiler however, so I'll just leave it at that.