Audio Book Review; Apple Tree Yard By Louise Doughty

Something a little different but as I am unlikely to read the books once I have listened to the audio book I have decided to review them this way.

So first up important information…

Running Length; 14 Hours 1 Min

Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

GOODREADS BLURB

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.

This has been on my, to read list, for a while since I listened to a review on the Richard and Judy pod-cast, when it came up on my list of suggestion of titles to spend my credits on I though why no, I have not bought a physical copy yet so I clicked and down loaded. Listening to audio-books is something I have done for years but have never really considered reviewing them but the criteria is the same as for a written book but with the added layer of narration, after all the narrators voice can affect how a story is told by the emphasis placed on a few words here or there.

So let’s start with the narration on this one and I have to say I do love Juliet Stevenson’s voice, I have several Jane Austen audio-books where she does the narration, her voice is perfect for this book and you can really relate to the woman she is portraying as the main character. The story draws you in and in many was make you feel like a conspirator or maybe in the end it should be an accomplice as in some ways as the outsider we see things a little clearer than some of those involved.

It is a story of lies, cause and effect and how sometimes we see what we want to see in order to justify our own actions. There are numerous points in the book where the characters could have taken a different path, yet despite the options you cannot help but feel right from the start the end is inevitable, there could never have been a happy ending,

I am going to use the same star system to give marks for these as I would if I had sat with the physical book and read it, so I give this 5 out of five stars and a high recommendation if you want an audio book to start out with.