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It was a story of the consequence of deceit, and of the way those consequences can spiral. It was perfectly observed, it was clearly carefully researched, and it made some telling points about 21st century society. But that never overwhelmed the story of one woman, who made a mistake, and had to deal with terrible consequences. Award-winning writer Hilary Mantel comments hauntingly about this story: ‘There cannot be a woman alive who hasn’t once realised, in a moment of panic, that she is in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong man.’ Yvonne is caught up in the high of her sexual power, her ability to court a man who desires her so fully. The mystery of the affair is also a pull for her. It is so different from her daily life. "I am fifty-two. I have status and gravitas - when I don't have my tights around my ankles in a secluded chapel beneath the Houses of Parliament, that is." So was Yvonne guilty after all? Both she and six million viewers were left with that chilling thought, and cleverly left us wanting more… Yvonne Carmichael seemed to be a woman who had everything. A successful career; she was a scientist, a geneticist, and she had climbed to the very top of her profession. A long and stable marriage, to a good man. Two children – a boy and a girl – both grown up and independent. A lovely home …
The story plays on the tag line of how ‘fear can make animals of us all’. Dr Carmichael’s opening words, as the tale opened with her being transported to court with a jolt in a prison van, were: “Reallly, we are all just animals. You know how I know that? Fear, fear for your life… ” We were left as wrung out as she was with all the terror and tension, at home – and at work. The grim realisation dawned on Yvonne: “There are no more refuges for me. No places of safety.” Emily Watson’s character, Yvonne Carmichael, looks out of the window as the vehicle in which she is travelling crosses a bridge over the Thames in London. She reflects on human nature, on the choices we make, how fear turns us into animals. The Thames can make you reflect, although Yvonne has more reason to do so than most. She is not on a bus, but in a prisoner transport van, possibly operated by G4S. She is cuffed and on the way to court, to be tried for murder. So begins this four-part adaptation of novelist (and Christmas University Challenge finalist) Louise Doughty’s psychological thriller Apple Tree Yard (BBC1, Sunday). The best part of this story is the trial when we find out more about the mysterious Mr X. The only reason I have given this book 3 stars is because I did not understand Yvonne. I thought she was a cold fish and not particularly likeable. I can appreciate that Yvonne was lonely after her two adult children had left home and was ripe for an affair. However Yvonne was very clinical, I doubt she would have sex with a man in a crypt within five minutes of meeting.
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Like all tragic figures, Yvonne has a lot to lose. She is happily married to a fellow research scientist with two grown-up children and an esteemed academic record: “I am fifty-two. I have status and gravitas – when I don’t have my tights round my ankles in a secluded chapel beneath the Houses of Parliament, that is.” Yet the analytical part of her mind cannot help but try to determine the significance of the anomaly: “In science we accept aberrations. It is only when aberrations keep happening that we stop and try and look for a pattern.” To say more would be to get into spoiler territory. But I can at least say this: Apple Tree Yard is a book of amazing psychological acuity. It explores essential questions such as, “When you are a rational being, with free will and agency, is there any such thing as a point of no return?” It examines how far we go to extract revenge, to develop and mine our own fictions, to become a survivor at all costs. And ultimately, it displays how far we can go when we fall out of love with ourselves. I am just not sure what the book set out to achieve. I listen to audiobooks when I am doing the housework and what this book achieved for me was to make the housework seem more pleasurable than this humourless and depressing story. Those of my friends who know how much I like housework will realise this is a huge achievement. The first person narrative, be it imaginary letters or just stream of consciousness, was SO tiresome. Perhaps the format (audiobook) made this more apparent. Even the lovely voice of Juliet Stevenson couldn’t make Yvonne’s thought processes seem any more than whining, delusional, self-obsessed ramblings. Yvonne whatever-her-name-was (I’ve forgotten already and will have forgotten the whole book by the weekend) could rival Tess Durbeyfield in the victim stakes. I am just not convinced that a highly respected, logical, scientific high achiever could be as compliant, passive and irritatingly dense as Yvonne is. The writer comes from Melton Mowbray, but surely the 21st century has arrived even in the home of pork pies and Stilton cheese? I don’t think this sort of woman has all the angst about her competence that Yvonne does. All the stuff about suicide and bipolar and even the spouse affair seemed wholly irrelevant, not adding up to anything, certainly not any sort of explanation. The book was flagged as a "psychological thriller," I think, but the psychology is very dubious. Suspenseful, erotically charged, and masterfully paced, Louise Doughty’s Apple Tree Yard is an intelligent psychological thriller about desire and its consequences by a writer of phenomenal gifts. ( From the publisher.)
His fury yielded another fantastic, if scary, speech about the horrors or rape and what victims go through – one of the best things about this drama is the way it hammers that message home. A surprisingly original and disturbing novel about a woman who embarks on an affair with disastrous consequences. Surprising, considering the description makes it sound like an average nail-biter when in fact it turns out to be much more. From the very beginning we are told that the main character is on trial as a direct result of her affair. Gradually, the events leading up to the trial are revealed.
Series Info
Description: 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.
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