From the bestselling author of Holding comes a masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland. Perfectly crafted, a beautiful, gripping account of Irish memory and deceit. A terrific achievement .' ANDREW O'HAGAN Graham Norton has been on TV for years in the UK. He is a comedian who regularly host a chat show and the Eurovision Song Contest. This is his second novel. His first novel I loved so when I seen he had this new novel coming out, I just had to get myself a copy. It's set in Buncarragh, Ireland. The duel storylines gel well together. It's only while you are reading the book, you realise the significance of its title. A story of missed chances, love and loss. A well written book that at one point, i did find a bit far fetched. I did enjoy his first novel, Holding, a bit more than I did this novel. But I will be looking forward to reading more from this Graham Norton in the future. This is the 2nd novel I have read by Graham Norton and once again I am so impressed with his writing. Don't be put off by his stage persona and read this book as you would any other author. This is a fabulous little book and I read it from start to finish in one sitting wanting to know more.

The story of a daughter returning to Ireland and discovering her identity is moving, but even more so is the story of her mother, who, now dead, brought up Elizabeth on her own in the society where single mothers were not accepted with open hands. Patricia defied the conventions and devoted her life to her daughter. No spoilers here, but the plot is intriguing, and the truth revealed proves that life sometimes prepares for us most extraordinary surprises, just like for Elizabeth. The flow was not great. The POVs between Patricia and Elizabeth and the mini POVs for Edward and Rosemary just didn't hang together well. The novel opens with forty-something Elizabeth Keane, a divorced lecturer in Romantic poetry based in New York, returning to her hometown of Buncarragh following the death of her mother, Patricia. Growing up in a small town and without a father, Elizabeth longed to get away and now as a single mother herself to a teenage son she is none too pleased to be reunited with her judgmental extended family as she plans to clear the house for sale. Stumbling across a small wooden box of letters penned to her mother in the early Seventies in response to a lonely hearts advert by the man she has been told is her father it provides her first opportunity to learn more about Edward Foley. Despite asking her uncle and her mother’s former friend about her mother’s brief time in the coastal town of Muirinish she learns nothing more than that Patricia returned following Edward’s death with local suspicion that she had been pregnant prior to leaving Buncarragh prevailing. As Elizabeth goes in search of her own answers and worries about her AWOL son, Zach, she finds rather more than she bargained for and ultimately gains a new appreciation for the woman her mother was.A Keeper has the vibes of Misery by Stephen King in some respects. What begins as a mother/daughter relationship novel will soon take on a much, much darker theme. And that, Boys and Girls, is a delightful plum pudding.

A gripping, thoughtful tale about the search for identity, belonging and self-possession.' OBSERVER The book's setting is Ireland in the present and the 1970s. Maybe I have been reading too much Tana French and Maeve Binchy, but the book didn't feel "Irish" to me. Even Elizabeth didn't. Maybe because she had been away for so long, but there's no mention of her having an accent or how her relatives sound, etc. We get descriptions of the house and farm and that's it. I raved about HOLDING two years ago ... A KEEPER is even better. A powerful, very sad story, beautiful writing, two time frames that are perfectly balanced. Outstanding. Will easily be one of my books of 2018.' JOHN BOYNE Now”: Only child Elizabeth Keane, a 44-year-old college instructor, divorcée and mother to 17-year-old Zach, living in a tiny apartment in Manhattan, travels to Ireland to finalize her recently deceased mother’s estate in Buncarragh. She finds a hidden box of letters filled with clues about the father she never knew.Magnificent ... his writing is evocative and perfect. His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting.' MARIAN KEYES