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Almost the Truth
When Hannah is raped during the course of a burglary, no one could have predicted her model family would disintegrate. Then the rapist is released from prison after a ridiculously short sentence and Hannah's father plans a shocking revenge--one that will lead him down the back alleys of his own psyche and strip away all his controls.
239 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 1994
2 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Yorke
94 books51 followersMargaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 9, 2026
So, I’ve had this book sitting in one of my tbr stacks and for some random reason that stack decided to fall and this book caught my attention. Not a bad way to clear some of your tbr books haha.
As long as we still laugh, we're all right…
“How quickly things could change, just on the
chance of a single night's events,” (p. 74).
They’ve marked out the perfect house to rob but plans go wrong and another house is targeted instead. An unsuspecting family is about to have the night from hell, their lives forever changed and marred by the what ifs…
It was only a few hours of sheer terror, but that night changed them all forever. The pain didn’t come from the items the men took, it came from the lives they shattered - things would never be the same again and the trauma would have reverberating effects.
Hannah retreated from people and a traditional life. Derek and Janet divorced, both struggling in their own ways.
Oof! I loved this book. It drops us right into the action from the start but the rest of the book is the lingering effects from that night. I loved how the author explored how it effecting them all in different ways.
Just a fab read that i highly recommend - would make a great book club book.
Home invasion
R*pe
Attempted suicide
Affair
Loss of newborn
Stalking
Miscarriage
Revenge
Guilt
As long as we still laugh, we're all right…
“How quickly things could change, just on the
chance of a single night's events,” (p. 74).
They’ve marked out the perfect house to rob but plans go wrong and another house is targeted instead. An unsuspecting family is about to have the night from hell, their lives forever changed and marred by the what ifs…
It was only a few hours of sheer terror, but that night changed them all forever. The pain didn’t come from the items the men took, it came from the lives they shattered - things would never be the same again and the trauma would have reverberating effects.
Hannah retreated from people and a traditional life. Derek and Janet divorced, both struggling in their own ways.
Oof! I loved this book. It drops us right into the action from the start but the rest of the book is the lingering effects from that night. I loved how the author explored how it effecting them all in different ways.
Just a fab read that i highly recommend - would make a great book club book.
Home invasion
R*pe
Attempted suicide
Affair
Loss of newborn
Stalking
Miscarriage
Revenge
Guilt
October 16, 2015
A shocking crime is committed against a family as two intruders break into the Jarvis’ rural home in Bicklebury with the intent to burgle, surprising father and daughter Derek and Hannah. One of the perpetrators – Barry Carter – takes things a lot further and proceeds to rape 19 year-old Hannah leaving her emotionally scarred for life.
Unable to come to terms with the rape and especially the fact that her father did not fight to protect her, Hannah shuts off from her previous life and goes into the wilderness of Scotland, in a small community, working with birds. Here she seems to be able to bring some meaning back into her life, but her parents are obviously worried she is shutting off from the world. During this time their own relationship breaks down.
Meanwhile Carter is released from prison, with no rehabilitation, and he is back on the rampage, this time committing even more shocking crimes including a murder of a young woman and another rape. Carter has a hatred for women, perhaps partically brought about by his upbringing and the violent men in his life.
Carter gets in with another partner called Vic and they plan a profitable raid, but Carter can not cope with not being in control and he changes the plans last minute, going back to the village of Bicklebury, and raiding the house of the Jarvis’ friends. On the way he reveals his previous horrible deeds to Vic.
It just so happens that Janet is looking after the house, along with 19 year old Carol (Hannah’s friend) when the two intruders break in. Carter is hinting towards what he is going to do to Carol when Vic turns the gun on him. Janet helps Vic tie him up and he takes him to a remote spot and leaves him for dead in the back of the car.
The twist in the tale – something I guessed – is that Vic is actually Derek getting his revenge for Hannah. I was worried that we were supposed to believe that Janet would not recognise her husband; but she knew.
I like the way you see the story from a lot of points of view, including that of poor Noreen, Carter’s mother.
At times I wasn’t that keen of Yorke’s writing style as she almost tells you what you should be allowed to think yourself, for example telling you something was the right way to be done, when you could see for yourself it is. She also lacks emotion in the prose and it can feel quite clinical at times.
Nevertheless, she spins a gripping tale, which is at times quite hard to take – violent and dark. The thoughts of the burglers and the way they target houses and find out whether the owners are at home, listening into holiday plans, funeral arrangements etc, is all too real and it really makes you think how easily you could be a victim. It is a very true to life story about the dark underworld, criminal but also very sick and damaged minds in society and the vulnerability of everyone, particularly women.
I really liked the psychological side of the story, how Hannah became stronger and managed to forge a life out of what happened and would have liked more of this. The revelation that Derek had actually forced himself on Janet in the early days of their relationship came as a shock and added a whole further depth to their reserved and relatively cold relationship.
I would have liked to have heard more of the story from Hannah’s point of view but that is probably just my personal taste for the psychological more than the action.
Unable to come to terms with the rape and especially the fact that her father did not fight to protect her, Hannah shuts off from her previous life and goes into the wilderness of Scotland, in a small community, working with birds. Here she seems to be able to bring some meaning back into her life, but her parents are obviously worried she is shutting off from the world. During this time their own relationship breaks down.
Meanwhile Carter is released from prison, with no rehabilitation, and he is back on the rampage, this time committing even more shocking crimes including a murder of a young woman and another rape. Carter has a hatred for women, perhaps partically brought about by his upbringing and the violent men in his life.
Carter gets in with another partner called Vic and they plan a profitable raid, but Carter can not cope with not being in control and he changes the plans last minute, going back to the village of Bicklebury, and raiding the house of the Jarvis’ friends. On the way he reveals his previous horrible deeds to Vic.
It just so happens that Janet is looking after the house, along with 19 year old Carol (Hannah’s friend) when the two intruders break in. Carter is hinting towards what he is going to do to Carol when Vic turns the gun on him. Janet helps Vic tie him up and he takes him to a remote spot and leaves him for dead in the back of the car.
The twist in the tale – something I guessed – is that Vic is actually Derek getting his revenge for Hannah. I was worried that we were supposed to believe that Janet would not recognise her husband; but she knew.
I like the way you see the story from a lot of points of view, including that of poor Noreen, Carter’s mother.
At times I wasn’t that keen of Yorke’s writing style as she almost tells you what you should be allowed to think yourself, for example telling you something was the right way to be done, when you could see for yourself it is. She also lacks emotion in the prose and it can feel quite clinical at times.
Nevertheless, she spins a gripping tale, which is at times quite hard to take – violent and dark. The thoughts of the burglers and the way they target houses and find out whether the owners are at home, listening into holiday plans, funeral arrangements etc, is all too real and it really makes you think how easily you could be a victim. It is a very true to life story about the dark underworld, criminal but also very sick and damaged minds in society and the vulnerability of everyone, particularly women.
I really liked the psychological side of the story, how Hannah became stronger and managed to forge a life out of what happened and would have liked more of this. The revelation that Derek had actually forced himself on Janet in the early days of their relationship came as a shock and added a whole further depth to their reserved and relatively cold relationship.
I would have liked to have heard more of the story from Hannah’s point of view but that is probably just my personal taste for the psychological more than the action.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2008
Another good Margaret Yorke. Didn't guess the ending this time, and the English village life always a plus.
December 8, 2015
Älskar "alla män"-tvisten på slutet, inte den om vem inbrottskompanjonen var (den var förutsägbar) utan den andra...
August 23, 2019
Another good read from Margaret Yorke. Starts with an awful crime and then as the story develops, there are twists and turns to surprise the reader. Never a dull moment reading this book. And as usual, the characters are well developed and believable. I enjoyed this one.
October 2, 2021
Enjoyable.
November 5, 2024
Very slow and predictable
Want to read
December 20, 2018Synopsis: during a burglary, a young woman is raped; the actions of her father shatter the family.
July 7, 2013
Wasn't totally blown away by this one - the style of writing and the way the story was told lacked emotion and passion for me, even though the subject should have given plenty of scope for it. A teenage girl is attacked and raped during a burglary but, in the aftermath, the greatest barrier to her recovery is that her father did nothing to prevent the attack - the author seems to be sending the message that, even when confronted with two armed men (one with a gun and one with a knife), a father should always try to stop any attack, even at the risk of exacerbating the situation and ending up getting killed - quite a dangerous message to send out, particularly in the light of more recent events (the book was written in 1994). Would certainly make some interesting talking points in a book group!
October 30, 2007
ivillage Y group read
March 17, 2011
My Mother-inlaw is a big fan of this author and this is the second book I have read by her. It was really very good and easy to follow with likable characters. Good read.
April 16, 2011
Great subway reading!
June 15, 2008
Actually I hated it. I haven't ever said that about a book before.
December 1, 2010
An O.K. read but not memorable.
August 18, 2017
Some interesting bits, but a bit naive
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews