A Keeper: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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The plot is quite far-fetched to begin with, but there are some sizeable holes in it, such as when characters do something completely out of character, or when information is revealed that makes something from earlier stop making sense, and then it's never explained (did we ever find out why Patricia owned the house, despite Edward still being alive? The next chapter is the "Now" and we meet a young single mom who has just learned her mom has passed. He is visiting his gay father, Elliot in California, a man he has seen little of since his parents acrimonious split. Alternating masterfully between “Now” and “Then,” from Convent Hill in the town of Buncarragh just outside Kilkenny, Ireland to the remote Castle House by the sea near West Cork, Graham Norton spins the tale of Patricia Keane and her daughter Elizabeth. Meanwhile her 17 year old son back in NYC makes long lasting decisions that impact both his and Elizabeth's lives.

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. Maybe I have been reading too much Tana French and Maeve Binchy, but the book didn't feel "Irish" to me. Don't even get me started on why we get a separate POV for Rosemary, it wasn't necessary and added nothing to the story. Graham Norton’s follow-up to his hugely impressive debut novel, Holding, is a bleak family drama set across a parallel narrative forty years apart. I've read a previous book by Graham Norton, - 'Holding' - and enjoyed it, which is why I wanted to pick this one up too.

I enjoyed both eras of this story, journeying along with Elizabeth while she balanced uncovering her family history with a family drama in the present. Once again Graham Norton surprises me with his writing abilities in this well drawn story of small town Irish life and remote rural farming families. She didn't really stay in touch with her mother and even when she was dying didn't seem to see the need to be there. His characters have a cardboard quality and he has jammed the plot with events that never quite come together in a believable way.

She receives a reply from one Edward Foley of Castle House, and what unfolds reminded me often of Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ - without the gore. It is here that the story gets a firmer foothole and we, as readers, will come to see what Graham Norton has in mind for us. She is less than keen on her remaining family, riddled with conflict and devious machinations, but she has to clear her mother's house with a view to selling it.It is a mesmerizing read and so unexpected ,had no idea what would happen and it was all alarming and upsetting and yet i could not put it down. Patricia is a bit lonely and when her friend pushes her to put an ad in a farmer's magazine she ends up starting correspondence with a man named Edward Foley. who knows what drives people to try to set things right ,and instead making it a kidnapping nightmare.

I've not yet read Norton's first novel but it got good reviews, so when I was given the chance to read this as an ARC, I went for it. 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.Final de ilginçti böyle bir son düşünmemiştim aslında yazarın başarısı da bu ; okuyucuya fırsat vermiyor ne olabileceği hakkında düşünmesine. Add to this Elizabeth's awkwardness and frustrations, the quirkiness of everyone she comes across, and little moments of beauty, and you have the unusual combination that comes together to make this book absolutely wonderful. The story is tight, the writing is sensitive, the plot is gripping - this book has all the elements of a great read.

Maybe he needs a better editor as well, as there were so many points that could have used further explanation while working on the timeline. Living in America has left a void in Elizabeth as she tries to interact with her extended Irish family. ANDREW O'HAGANFrom the bestselling author of HOLDING comes a masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland. There was a creepy ‘Rebecca’ feel to Patricia’s sections, the isolated house perched alongside a ruined castle on the wild coast – Ireland, not Cornwall, but still – a strange man, a crazed old woman, and secrets galore!This is a hugely compelling family drama, of mothers whose children are everything, and of the darkness, heartbreak, intrigue, mental health issues and secrets that bubble within the facade of families, past and present. I'd have given up after the third chapter, but - having read some excellent reviews here on Goodreads - I felt sure the story would pick up towards the end. The snarky ex-husband didn't go over well either and actually just disappeared out of the end of the story, never to be heard from again. What was supposed to be a bit of ordinary shuffle unravels into an emotional journey in time and some unexpected discoveries.