I like Graham Norton as a writer, and this book has all the hallmarks of his other, very appealing novels (likeable characters, believable dialogue and a very readable story). However, I found the storyline just a little far-fetched, which detracted slightly from what is otherwise a great read.

This was a good read, some of the story lines were quite far fetched, and i questioned, is this really possible?
However, this was an enjoyable read with humour intertwined throughout the serious undertones of a family member suffering with a lifechanging illness. Sensitive and funny at the same time.

This was an easy read, that flowed pretty well.
I did, however, find it a little predictable at times (except for curve ball behind the reason for the key controversy).

Additionally, it was hard to sympathise with anyone. There were a lot of weak characters getting exploited by others or just lacking any impetus. The only really enjoyable character was 80-year-old Moira.

Thank You NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a Review Copy

Having really enjoyed other novels by Graham Norton, I was looking forward to reading his latest, Forever Home. It follows teacher Carol who, after getting divorced, moves in with a much older man, Declan. This sets the locals gossiping until Declan becomes too ill to live at home, and is moved into a care home. Declan's children from his first marriage force Carol to leave the family home...

Although I feel like this novel is quite a different kind of story from Graham Norton's other novels (not sure why exactly - perhaps just because we're focusing on a woman as the main character this time?), it still heavily focuses on family and community. The characters are also just as brilliant as they have been in his other novels, and feel very convincing. I can imagine knowing these people. They're written with such charm (though some of them are definitely NOT charming!) and honesty, and I would have happily read a lot more about Carol and the community of this small Irish town.

There's a definite dark side to this novel and a good dose of mystery, which I loved. However, it is absolutely a character study - if you're after a fast-paced, action-packed story then this won't be for you. We slowly uncover more about Carol, Declan, her family and Declan's children as the novel continues, and start to wonder if everyone is hiding something...

I really enjoyed Forever Home and I can equally imagine reading it on holiday somewhere sunny as I could whilst curled up inside when it's chilly outside. If you fancy something character-based with an interesting cast of characters and a great mix of dark and comic moments, this is the novel for you!

I have enjoyed earlier novels by this author but found this one a bit dull. Carol and her mother did not grab me as interesting or sympathetic characters, and some of their actions were a bit unrealistic. Was anybody in this story actually happy? A depressing story with old long-buried secrets bringing grief and regrets into the present day. Not for me.

Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland with Declan, whose wife went missing when his kids were young. Those now-adult children didn't take kindly to their mother's position being usurped by another woman. So when Declan is too ill to continue living at home, the kids take over, throw Carol out and sell the house. And then things turn nasty.

I have a soft spot for Graham Norton, I admit it. Reading his books is like sitting before a fire listening to a gossipy friend animatedly telling you a story while you sit glued to your seat. There's a warmth of tone, a natural chatty flow, and a lovely balance of empathy, kindness and bitchiness.

Add to that a really good plot, strong pacing, excellent characterisation and convincing dialogue... You can't go wrong!

This is the third Norton I've read (Holding, A Keeper) and it is at least as good if not better. I love the fact that each of the novels I've read is very different - he's not a one-trick pony - in terms of story, but they are equally strong in literary technique. It's popular fiction at its best.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for an immersive read.

Ooh, this is good. Thought I'd worked it out early on. I hadn't, Graham Norton is sneaky with his twists.

Carol is moving out of her house when the book starts. Or rather being thrown out by her partners children. The story then explores her relationship with her own family and the family of her partner. It seems like a very real place with very real people. The little petty annoyances, the big dramas of life.

It's a quick read as it always warrants just one more chapter.

What can I say? I’ve been a big fan of all Graham Norton’s fiction books and yes, although he is a Tv celebrity, he can definitely write!
His characterisations are amazing- I particularly liked Carol and Moira in this one. They were both so well rounded. Carol is slightly tragic but her interactions with the wonderful Moira are full of understated humour.
The background setting of a small Irish village was so well portrayed- Graham obviously calls on his own background and this really shines through.
The plot has everything sadness, humour, mystery and of course those incredible characters which bring it all together.
When 48 year old Carol Crottie, daughter of coffee shop king, Dave and his wife Moira, faces a difficult time in her life she returns to the family home for support. Moira is very direct and has never liked Carole’s partner, Declan so she feels Carole has brought her problems upon herself. However when a family mystery is revealed that will have an impact on Carol , Moira really steps up to the mark in a really humorous way.
The reader also sees matters from the point of view of Killian and Sally, Declan’s grown up children abandoned by their mother as youngsters and raised alone by Declan. Carol, Killian and Sally really do not get along and there is a lot of conflict between them. However, as the novel progresses the background to all this is explained.
I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot as I think that it’s a great book and the story deserves to be read from scratch. Suffice it to say that the coffee machine in Moira and Dave’s kitchen plays a major role!!
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my advance copy.

I’ve now read two of Graham Norton’s novels and I think this one is my favourite so far. It’s a fairly slow-paced read but it's well-written. I enjoyed it so much that I completed it in one day. Forever Home is a compelling family drama, very much character-driven, set in a fictional village in Ireland, packed full of dark humour. A first-class tale, I anticipate this will appeal to many. I think it's about time I got around to reading Holding, another of Norton's books.

This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley.

A nice, easily readable book but almost instantly forgettable. Enjoyable while reading but no real desire to find out what happened, I would not describe it as a gripping read.
When I first started this book, I was 15% through without really noticing it! It was a bit confusing as to where the story was heading, thinking perhaps it was going to be the tale of all the residents of the row of houses. When the story of Carol and Declan started to develop, I was waiting for it to join with the other residents.
Grahams writing is lovely, engaging with the story telling genes of the Irish coming through. Having read all his previous books though, I felt this lacked something. Perhaps I am missing the point.
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

I have read all of Graham Norton’s books and enjoyed them . I do wish this book had chapters though as I found myself having to backtrack as I realised the story had moved onto to another set of characters.
The book was set in Ireland and began with the story of Carol having to leave the home she had shared with her partner, Declan, for several years. He is suffering with dementia and has had to go into a care home. Carol was married before, now divorced. She sold her home when she moved in with Declan and his children and subsequently gave her own son money from the sale to allow him to buy a home of his own.
Carol has to move in with her elderly parents as she has no funds to buy a home of her own and she has given up her teaching job.
As the book evolves the family drama intensifies and Declan’s wife, who was supposed to have run away and left the children when young, returns.
It was a very good book and I would have given it 5 stars if only it had chapters.

I find it rather staggering that Graham Norton can be the UK's most successful chat show host for one half of the year, and is fast becoming one of it's best authors during the other half! Writing about the small town Ireland that he grew up in (and where he spend his summers), he's written a number of compelling, moving, and clever books that just seem to be getting better as they go along.
Forever Home is probably closest in tone to his first novel 'Holding', with deep personal stories blended with a fun crime investigation that is darkly funny at points.
It's a fantastic read. My favourite Norton novel remains 'Home Stretch', as that struck a particularly personal cord with me, but this is gorgeous

I love Graham Norton's books! I always hear his voice when I'm reading them. I love the Irish family drama and this one had a fair bit of dark humour thrown in which I always enjoy.

I really enjoy the writing of Graham Norton whether is be his biographies or perhaps more surprising his novels. The stories are well written, full of interesting characters and plenty of emotions. ‘Forever Home’ is another excellent read and I found it so difficult not to read from start to finish in one sitting.

A divorced teacher named Carol lives in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A new relationship gets the local tongues wagging when Carol moves in with Declan a much older man and people wonder what the attraction is. His wife abandoned the family home many years ago and there is an air of mystery surrounding her disappearance. All the gossip surrounding their relationship only seems to make them stronger.

But life becomes more complicated when Declan becomes ill and his children get more involved in a family life they had little time for previously. The family force Carol out of the couples home and she has little option but to move back in with her parents.

Carol’s mother and father are naturally concerned for their daughter and try to help her in anyway they can. Carol discovers that Declan’s past is full of secrets and the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance.

Beautifully written.

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

I cannot get enough to Norton's writing and Forever Home is no exception, though it's quite different to his other novels. Still, it has the cosy, homespun feeling of the best parts of rural Ireland; comparisons to Maeve Binchy are not unfounded. Like Binchy, however, Norton's work packs a punch under its soft veneer.

Carol has been in a relationship with Declan for ten years after the breakup of both their previous marriages. When Declan falls ill, Carol's world is turned upside down - their home is sold by Declan's adult children, and he is moved to a care home. With no choice (thanks, housing crisis!) to be seen, Carol finds herself in her late forties, back home living with her parents. So far, so classic kitchen-sink drama.

But secrets become unveiled and Carol finds herself embroiled in a plot closer to a crime drama than Norton's usual family ones. It's a change of pace for their author and not an unwelcome one. Norton has always excelled at comedy, and here it's black as pitch and very enjoyable.

Criticisms would include the lack of emotional connection I felt with the novel; which is a new problem for me with this author. Forever Home didn't hit the dizzy heights of Home Stretch for me, but you could still read far, far worse books, and have a worse time with better ones. Funny, graceful and ultimately touching, I remain a fan of our 21st century Binchy-esque national treasure.

A light hearted story of Declan, whose first wife disappeared, his new partner, his nasty grown up children and a body in the freezer. I enjoyed this book, despite it being farfetched at times, and think it is best described as a dark, comedic family sage.

When Carol’s partner, Declan, becomes ill, Carol’s life begins to fall apart. Forced out of the home she shared with Declan by his children, while Declan himself is moved into a care home, Carol must move back in with her parents and fight for her place in Declan’s life. But the discovery of a hidden room in their house containing a locked freezer uncovers some dark secrets in Declan’s past, that Carol and her mother now find themselves responsible for covering back up.

Forever Home is primarily a family drama, with a solid dosage of mystery added in. This genre combination works really well, as it enhances the level of mystery because a lot of the events that take place aren’t necessarily expected.

Norton’s writing is excellent, and you are fully immersed in the lives of the characters, of whom there are a few who play primary roles. They aren’t particularly likable, but this actually helped to reinforce the idea that they could be real people existing in the real world, with the exception of Moira, Carol’s mother, who is a force to be reckoned with and I thoroughly enjoyed her. Carol herself isn’t too bad, but is a little bit feeble and would have achieved exactly nothing without her mother.

I also felt that Declan’s dementia was handled very well (by the author, not by the characters – they were terrible with it) and felt very authentic to my own experiences with the illness, without becoming too big a part of the story.

Quite different from Grahan Norton's previous books but still a real thread of rural Ireland running all the way through it. I don't tend to love shifting POVs but it worked quite effectively here to build more mystery.

It's not a deep mystery we're dealing with, rather it's more about the different relationship dynamics at play. An interesting look at how family dynamics, divorce, and long-held secrets play out in a small village. But it still always keeping that warmth and dark comedy Norton brings to his writing. My favourite of his so far.

It was well written and a jaunty dance through secrets we might hide. A good holiday read.
Norton is as clever a writer as he is a humorist.

This was the first novel I have read by Graham Norton, which coincidentally was the subject of an interview with Graham on UK radio that same week. It seemed a while before I could get a sense of where this book was headed - a slow gradual build up, leading to intrigue and a page-turner. Set in a fictitious village on the Irish coast, the families’ lives merge and the hidden secrets of over twenty years finally emerge. To cut to the chase, mother and mature daughter discover a frozen body in the freezer of the basement of a recently purchased house. Best described as a mystery, it goes deeper. With credible gregarious characters, a story of childhood suffering and loss, and family relationships and emotions. An enjoyable, amusing, uncomplicated book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Hodder and Stoughton for this advance copy.