Highly enjoyed this one! It kept me engaged throughout and was a joy to read, would certainly recommend!

Thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review and congrats to the author for publishing a novel.

I have seen the Graham Norton Show on BBC America and he’s funny and likable. His book was not either., though it is supposed to be a mystery so I didn’t expect any humor in it. It was very boring and I find that I just did not care at all about the characters.

Well this book was a surprise read. Recommended to me by my son. I had seen a few of his shows - but not to my taste.
The writing is superb. Even poetic in parts. The main characters' interior monologue was outstanding. Norton really captured the essence of the person.
Unputdownable

A Keeper by Graham Norton is wonderfully written and an excellent story. I particularly loved the setting and the descriptions which truly set the tone for this novel. A family mystery is the basis of the story and is intriguing and interesting all the way through. Loved this book and recommend it.

A Keeper is the first book I have read from this author and I can't wait to read more. The storyline was easy to follow and the well-crafted characters were quite enjoyable.

Wasn't too much of a fan of this one, it was okay, not as good as I had expected. Fans of Graham will like it, I would read more of his, just didn't find it too much of a page turner.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

I recently purchased this book because I love listening to Graham Norton's show and am curious about his fiction work,

Perfect book for a rainy day. Graham Norton is a great TV host but who knew that he is also a great storyteller. I didn't know what to expect going in but I was looking forward to a cosy mystery and that's what I got.

There were some plot holes that got be wondering where the character did something so out of character but the story as a whole was intriguing and also an emotional one. It's a mix of finding oneself.

But if you're into a book with amazing characters and feels like you're in a small neighbourhood, gossiping amongst each other, this is the one for you.

This was mostly very good. Elizabeth goes to Ireland to wrap up some last things after her mother passes away. It has some horror elements to it, which was probably my favourite part because I didn't expect that at all. The first half I really enjoyed, but the last half I felt had some weird choices, especially with almost all of the men.

3/5. Thanks to Netgalley.

First off, when I started this book, I did not contact the author with his British talk show, which I adore. The relationships developed in this book are wonderful and real. I recommend.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be honest, I typically don’t read adult fiction. I got this book solely for the author and I’m so glad I gave it a try.

The story takes place then and now. Now Elizabeth’s mother has died and she has to go to Ireland to go through her belongings. Elizabeth never knew her father but as she’s going through her Mother’s Things she found out more and more about her past.

Then is a story of Patricia, Elizabeth’s mother. You see how she met her father and what she went through to become the single mother she was to Elizabeth.

The story wasn’t a thriller, but it almost had some thriller moments. There were a lot of twist and turns I couldn’t believe. I would definitely recommend this book. 3.5 stars for this adult fiction!

RATING: 4 STARS
2019; Atria

I was expecting A Keeper to be more of a literary fiction novel, but I was pleasantly surprised when it was more of a literary psychological mystery. This novel had me on my toes, as I wasn't sure what was coming next. The novel takes place in both present day and 1970s, Ireland. Elizabeth heads back to Ireland when her mother passes away. As she wonders about her birth father, and looks through her mother's belonging, she comes across letters. The letters reveal more than Elizabeth wanted to ever know about her mother. I loved that this novel was a character study with a very engaging story. I would definitely try another book by Norton.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

I absolutely adored Graham Norton’s debut novel, Holding. I loved the bumbling Sergeant P.J. Collins and all the denizens of his Irish village of Duneen, even some of the crazies. (For Americans, Norton, the Irish host of a comic talk show, is as well known in the United Kingdom as his counterparts Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel are on this side of the Pond.) Norton intertwined wonderful character studies with an intriguing murder mystery to create a five-star gem.

So I wanted to like <i>A Keeper</i>. I wanted to </i><b>love</b> The Keeper</i>. I wanted to love it so much that I forced myself to read 26 percent through the novel, a grueling task. But I just couldn’t plow through anymore. I didn’t like the resentful Elizabeth Keane or her late mother, the poor benighted single-mom Patricia Keane, or Elizabeth’s dreadful family or the man Elizabeth’s mother once loved — or something — or really anyone but Patricia’s best friend, Rosemary O’Shea. And Rosemary just came too late in the novel for me to care anymore.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I received this book free from NetGalley and Atria Books in return for an honest review.

I rarely DFN a book but I had to for this one. For some reason, I just couldn't get into it. It felt so inauthentic. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the early copy.

I did not connect with the plot/writing style and decided to put it down.

This is the first book I read by Graham Norton but definitely won’t be my last. He is an amazing story teller and kept me engaged through the whole book.

Norton’s 2016 debut novel, Holding, was surprisingly good. Unfortunately, this second offering is not nearly as strong. His characters have a cardboard quality and he has jammed the plot with events that never quite come together in a believable way.

3.5 rounded up

A KEEPER by Graham Norton is an entertaining book. It's a story about self-discovery and acceptance. In this book, we follow Elizabeth Keane, a single mother with a 17-year-old son. When her mother passed away, Elizabeth takes a trip from NY to her childhood home in Ireland to deal with the house. While sorting her mother's belonging, Elizabeth comes across letters for her mother written by Edward Foley. Immediately Elizabeth assumes that Edward is her father, a man that she never knew.

Then the story switches to forty years before, to a story about Patricia, Elizabeth's mother. At 30 years old, Patricia is longing for a family. Taking her friend's advice, Patricia submits a dating advertisement to The Irish Farmers' Journal. She receives responses from men, but only the letter from Edward Foley catches her attention. Patricia decides to get to know Edward and later on, meet him. Turns out, Edward is not like what Patricia imagines. But she gives him another chance. She agrees to another meeting. This time she also meets Edward's creepy mother and gets to visit The Foley's house in the middle of nowhere. From here, thing is starting to get very interesting.

The chapters alternate between Elizabeth's story and Patricia's. It is clearly marked "Now" and "Then" by the author to maintain a clear plot for each timeline. The ending, however, is a different story. I like how everything ends with Patricia. On the other hand, Elizabeth's ending is somehow questionable. There is a side plot about Elizabeth's son, which in my opinion, it's more of a distraction instead of a welcome addition. Because of this side plot, the ending of Elizabeth's story feels too good to be true. I imagine that the plot would be so much better without the son's story.

Overall, Graham Norton is a wonderful storyteller. I love his beautiful writing style, and the way he makes the characters feel real, but I am not a fan of the ending. Still, this book is quite enjoyable to read and I would definitely read another book from this author.

Before receiving this book, I had no idea Graham Norton was an author! I find him hilarious on TV, so I was very interested in reading A Keeper. I was happy I did!! This is a story about a mother and daughter and discovering your roots. It was funny with a thriller vibe thrown in for good measure!
Thanks to Graham Norton, Atria and NetGalley for the ARC of this good book!

An average story of family and loss. I was invested because of my interest in Ireland as a background for the story.