John Harper is a man of a shadowy occupation, and has seen much that one would rather forget in his unsettled, chaotic life. Working as a black ops operative, he carries out instructions without thinking too much about them. But after his last fuck up on the job, he is suspended on indefinite limbo, nursing his personal nightmares and failures in a serene Javanese hut. He soon meets Rita, whose cool demeanour betrays her strangely unbridled reactions towards minor upsets - and arouses his curiosity. They probe each other out over repeated dates, and in the midst of it, his own tale of anguish, guilt and betrayal slowly unravels, against the backdrop of several historical events and in different countries - the Cold War and Europe, the Civil Rights Movement and California, the 1965 massacres in Indonesia.

How do we perceive reality, what personal meaning does it have for us, and how do these intertwine to give a version that lies somewhere in between? Memory is never really accurate in Doughty's portrayal of John Harper - more a distortion that stretches, accommodates and confuses over time with unacknowledged emotions. We see Harper's mother talk about his dad with such an imbued air of heroism, that Harper's memory of his dad is wholly embellished. When he hears the actual truth from his aunt, what passes as a divinely heroic character withers to a numbing, mundane recall of events. Doughty's writeup of betrayal and self-preservation at all costs highlights the scumbag aspect of Harper.

This is my first Doughty book - I *was* looking out for Apple Tree Yard but turned up nothing....lol. It was slightly disappointing, as the plot was quite plodding in some parts. Like in a 'I don't think that would actually give Harper enough brownie points to justify Rita bedding him - but well ok, whatever rocks your boat, Harper' sort of way. However, this hasn't dampened my interest in the quest for Doughty's Apple Tree Yard yet. ( )

I love Louise Doughty's books but this one didn't quite hit the mark with me. I never did get my head round what central character John's employers actually did (though I got that it wasn't nice). There was a feeling of building up to a moment of drama and yet when we reached one it would take up as little space as possible and in a flash the narrative would shift back to a time of safety and John would again be eating breakfast in a hotel somewhere and contemplating his navel. It was a bit like the way a broadsheet newspaper might cover a tawdry sex scandal.

Massive respect to the author for the thoroughness of her research and the confident way in which she transports the reader to 1960s Indonesia, and the way she prompted me to google the history of that area. Without said googling my understanding of the storyline would have been even more woeful than it actually was. So I've been educated, but as a reading experience, a bit dry for me. ( )

John Harper works as an operative for a black-ops operation. It’s 1998 and he’s staying in a hut in Indonesia in fear of his life. He’s made an error of judgment which most likely has made him a liability to his employer and unfortunately, John is all too familiar with how his employer deals with failures. John has plenty of time to remember his disastrous 1965 Indonesian tour. He obviously has serious regrets about some of his past actions and struggles with his memories. When he meets Rita, another damaged soul, he shares some of his past with her but she knows he hasn’t told her everything.

The book bounces back and forth between 1998 and 1965 and when John was a child. John is the son of an Indonesian soldier who the Japanese beheaded and an alcoholic Dutch woman. The happiest time of his life are the years spent with Poppa and Nina and his little half-brother Bud. The author masterfully fleshes out John’s character and shows how his childhood has led him to where he is today. His path has been a long, hard one and I longed for John to find redemption and love. I literally had trouble breathing during the last few pages of this book.

I picked this book based on the author alone since I thought “Apple Tree Yard” was an amazing book. I hardly glanced at what the book was about. When I started to read it, I thought I might have made a mistake as it obviously was an espionage book, much like Graham Greene would write, and I’m not particularly fond of that type of book. But the author’s characterization makes her new book an excellent read and one that I highly recommend. It’s thrilling, it’s heart wrenching and it’s powerful. ( )

This was possibly my biggest literary disappointment so far this year.
I have loved all of Louise Doughty’s previous novels (and not just because I knew her at university), and had been eagerly awaiting this one, especially as her last one, ‘Apple Tree Yard’, had been so good (certainly in the top three or four books that I read that year).

Things seem to have gone slightly awry, however, as I found this book to be very heavy going. One of the characteristics of Doughty’s previous books has been her knack of immediately grabbing the reader’s attention and engulfing them entirely in the story. That talent seemed wholly absent here, and I had to make a huge effort to keep pushing through this book. Because it is by her, I will make a point of trying it again in a few weeks (I am, after all a great believer in the idea that one has to be in the right mood for certain books), and hope that I experience a wholly different response then. ( )