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 follows Elizabeth Keane, who returns to Ireland after her mother's death, to tie up loose ends on a not very happy time in her life. She has very little there, unpleasant memories, items of small value, but all that changes when she finds a small stash of letters telling a story that she was never told.
The book goes back and forward in time telling the story from both Elizabeth in present day and her mother Patricia in the past. This is a lovely read and well worth a look. I read Graham Norton's first novel mostly out of curiosity but found the writing very good, now after reading this book I will look out for his novels for the entertaining emotive writing.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Graham Norton has shown himself to be a very good, insightful and humane writer. All these qualities are plain in A Keeper, but as a novel I didn’t think it quite delivered.

The story is told in two time-frames; Elizabeth Keane returns to the small town in the west of Ireland where she grew up to deal with the estate of her recently dead mother. She discovers a cache of letters from the father she never knew and we get the intercut stories of her search for the truth of her origins and of the events of the past as they happened. It’s a sad, rather bizarre story whose lessons are mirrored in current events for Elizabeth.

Graham Norton writes beautifully. As in Holding (which I enjoyed very much) it is a delightful surprise that an apparently frivolous, rather waspish TV host can create such rounded, human and sympathetic characters and conjure atmosphere and sense of place so evocatively. Early on, for example, we get a poignant picture of the emotional bleakness of revisiting a now-unoccupied childhood home and excellently painted portraits of relatives whose desperation to pry and to get their hands on things from the house is dressed up as concern for Elizabeth.

A Keeper is a pleasure to read in this respect, but I didn’t find enough real content to keep me fully engaged. There is a tension, but its resolution is signalled early on, the Life Lessons applied to Elizabeth’s current situation felt a bit clunky, and the emotional insights didn’t seem that original, however beautifully portrayed the characters may be.

Overall, this didn’t deliver as much for me as Holding. However, this may be just a personal response; A Keeper is very well written and well worth a try to see if it suits you, even if I’m a little lukewarm about it.

(My thanks to Coronet for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Haunting and tragic, this is a beautifully written story of family secrets. There is a compelling simplicity which makes this easy to read and hard to put down. The depth of emotion portrayed is vast and counters perfectly with the almost stereotypical array of characters. The author weaves a web of intrigue that has a very believable realism to it, another resounding success.

I've got to be honest I didn't realise who had wrote this till after I had read it I was amazed , I love Graham Norton and hes hilarious but wow the man can write too now I need his other book ! A real roller coaster of emotions happened with this book and that's just how I like , highly recommend.

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. When it comes to relationships, there is not much in the way of cheering fare, with disappointment, intrigue, darkness, and stoicism from two different eras. Divorced New Yorker Elizabeth Keane returns home to Ireland and Buncarragh with the death of her mother, Patricia, to put her affairs in order. 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. The house is in dilapidated state and more worryingly, infested with rats which scuppers Elizabeth's plan for residing there for the short duration of her stay. Elizabeth thinks she knows her mother inside out, but her confidence in this takes a huge knock when she discovers a pile of ribbon wrapped letters in the back of Patricia's wardrobe. In this narrative that goes back and forth in time, Patricia's life is slowly revealed as to how she ended up being a confirmed spinster and life long devoted single mother to her beloved daughter, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth has a 17 year old son, Zach, who she is over protective of and is constantly on her mind. He is visiting his gay father, Elliot in California, a man he has seen little of since his parents acrimonious split. Elizabeth is left reeling as she delves in her mother's life, her unsettling romance with her father, Edward Foley, a farmer living in a remote area by the sea. She meets with her mother's best friend, Rosemary O'Shea, and those who knew her father and her griefstricken and disturbed grandmother. A codicil to her mother's will brings further unexpected surprises. In the present, Elizabeth is faced with more unexpected shattering shocks regarding Zach that are to lead to life changing moves in her future. 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 found this to be an engaging and absorbing read that I recommend. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book by Graham Norton and thought this might be just a follow on with similar ideas. How wrong can a person be? It was phenomenally better in every aspect. From the first page we are drawn into an emotional roller-coaster. The story is told from two points of view, modern day Ireland where Elizabeth has travelled from America to sort out her mothers estate following her death and the past, where we learn that everything is not quite as we first think. This story really pulls on the heart strings on many occasions and I would thoroughly recommend it to those who enjoy becoming engrossed in a family saga where things are not as they first seem and how hidden family secrets can change future generations.

Chapeau, Mister N., I wasn’t expecting that! Such depth of feeling and no funny-man gimmicks. Two quite sombre stories intertwined in “now” and “then”. Elizabeth’s story and her mother Patricia’s story, told like a dark-cloud day in the Irish countryside. An ill-fated romance that slowly unravels the darkest of family secrets and paints an emotive picture of love, grief, longing, loneliness and mental illness.

This booked had me hooked from the very beginning. Graham Norton describes the sad, lonely lives of people with great tenderness. The book is told over two time periods, present day by Elizabeth, and a generation ago with her mother's story. Sometimes a novel written by a celebrity seems only to have been published because of their name. This is not the case here; this book is excellent and has no need of a famous author to be a best seller.

I thoroughly enjoyed Graham’s first novel Holding, and was eagerly anticipating his follow up book. A keeper did not disappoint one iota, and surpassed my expections. It was a truly excellent novel. A well thought out plot, told on several levels, with well drawn characters, many of whom the reader could empathise with. I have never been to Ireland, but Graham’s descriptive depiction of Ireland truly makes you feel that you are there.

A novel of life, love, and family, it was a joy to read, and I cannot rate it highly enough.

Eagerly awaiting the next one.

Quite unbelievably,up till now I've not really seen/heard/read anything of Norton's. I'm aware of who he is,and that's what made me pick up the book.
Pleasantly surprised. Told over two timelines,the older one was particularly brooding... and that was just the setting!
Despite some fairly outrageous things happening,it actually felt like it could have happened. 
Small village Ireland may well have it's nose in your business,but so it does for everyone else.
Covers a whole range of emotions,had me smiling,and swallowing that lump in my throat.
I guessed a few times where it was heading,but didn't once spoil the journey to get there.

This is such a good read!

The story is written in two timelines (now and then) and it’s about a mother returning to Ireland and uncovering family secrets. I don’t want to say more than that, so as not to spoil your read, but, it’s so good!

At times I found it similar in style to Maeve Binchy and I mean that as a sincere compliment, it’s an emotional read, but, never overly so.

A fabulous Christmas gift and I highly recommend.

I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘A Keeper’ by Graham Norton in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
We meet Elizabeth Keane who, following the death of her mother, returns to Buncarragh to finalise her mother’s affairs and clear out her house. Whilst looking in a wardrobe she finds a box containing a baby’s bootee, a photograph and letters from her father Edward Foley addressed to her mother. Elizabeth wants to know more about her childhood and travels to where she was born and her father resided.
I thought Graham Norton’s excellent first novel ‘Holding’ might be a one-off but this is definitely not the case. I’ve always classed Norton first and foremost as a comedian but he never fails to surprise me with his ability to write such a novel with compassion and perception. ‘A Keeper’ has been beautifully written with pathos and poignancy, the story flows off the page, and I became so engrossed in the lives of the characters that I had to keep reading and finished it in a day. It’s a wonderful story, a joy to read, and I can thoroughly recommend it.

Loved loved loved this. This is a brilliant read, as good as, if not better than, his first book Holding.
Graham is a superb author. The writing is brilliantly observed and the plot though achingly sad is unexpected, emotional and enthralling. Perfectly caputuring small town Ireland this is a true unputdownable read and one that will definitely induce a book hangover.
#Akeeper#Netgally

A really special book. Maeve Binchy crossed with Liz Nugent. Great story, superb characters, wonderful sense of place. Highly recommended.

I thought this book was so much better than his first book, it’s a dark and lonely book but has an undercurrent of positivity as well as humour. It could be a book set anywhere in the world, it has raw emotion and sadness so much so that the book stays with you for ages after reading it. It’s also a page turner, you really don’t know what’s going to happen next with. Loved it!
NetGalley kindly sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#Akeeper #NetGalley