Louise Doughty, best known for her thriller novels such as *Apple Tree Yard* and *Platform Seven*, has turned her literary focus to a deeply personal project with the release of her memoir *On This Spot Fell One Tear Of Love*. The book chronicles the six-decade-long marriage of her parents, Ken and Avis, alongside her father’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

The memoir, published by Phoenix Books, explores the lives of a working-class couple navigating societal restrictions in 1950s Britain. It is structured in reverse chronological order, beginning with the final years of Ken’s life and moving backward to uncover the origins of their relationship. Doughty discovered a trove of letters while clearing out her parents’ home in Leicester, which revealed a previously unknown love triangle and reshaped her understanding of their story.

Doughty describes the marriage as complex and far from perfect. Despite the hardships—including her father’s psychotic episodes brought on by Alzheimer’s, during which he sometimes accused his wife of trying to harm him—the couple remained together. Avis, small and elderly, cared for Ken throughout his illness with little external support, often dismissing what help was offered. Doughty highlights the immense emotional and physical toll placed on carers, noting that unpaid carers in the UK number around five million and save the public sector significant resources annually.

Ken lived for five years after his diagnosis, passing away in 2012, followed by Avis’s sudden death from a heart attack two years later. Doughty reflects on the contrasting grief experienced after a prolonged illness versus a sudden loss, describing it as swinging between extremes. Writing served as an emotional refuge during these difficult times, with her fiction providing an escape she credits with helping her cope.

Doughty, now 63 with two daughters, has expressed concerns about her own risk of developing Alzheimer’s, fearing the impact it could have on her family. She calls for greater attention and funding to be directed toward dementia care, underscoring it as a growing public health challenge that has yet to receive adequate resources compared to other diseases.

In addition to her memoir, Doughty’s tenth novel, *A Bird In Winter*, which profiles a female spy on the run, is currently in development for television by the same company responsible for adapting *Platform Seven* and the BBC series *Crossfire*, both of which featured works by Doughty.

While she acknowledges the success her novels have found in the television medium, Doughty emphasizes that she does not write with screen adaptations in mind. Nevertheless, she expressed openness to seeing her memoir adapted, suggesting it could translate into either a drama or documentary, given its universal themes of love, loss, and family secrets uncovered after a parent’s death.