This story is so human and handles delicate subjects with compassion and humor without backing down from confrontation. There is a lot of ugly in the book that brings together two dysfunctional families. But in different ways, each was relatable and every character was diverse and real. That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for in a book. Separate character arcs that grow and develop along the same timeline.

This book takes place in a fictional Irish town and centers around the life of a very lovely character named Carol. She’s a divorced teacher who begins a relationship with a much older man named Declan, which gets the town gossips’ tongues wagging. As their relationship grows, you meet his two children, who were left years ago by their mother. Of course, they are both scared and broken because of that abandonment.

Both Carol and Declan have secrets. But as Declan’s memory rapidly declines, his two adult children put the ‘dys’ in ‘dysfunction’ and heartlessly move against Carol. She is forced to move back in with her parents, and that living situation becomes both hysterical and untenable. Throw in a very surprising mystery, and you have a book that you can’t put down.

It is an enjoyable story told beautifully. I’d highly recommend it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to get a copy of Graham Norton’s latest book Forever Home.

Taking place in a small village in Ireland, Carol is a divorced teacher who has found love again with Declan. After Declan becomes ill, Carol is forced to leave his home by his two adult children, both of whom are distrusting of Carol. As she moves back in with her parents at 48 years old, Carol starts to discover the man she thought she knew might have secrets. What happened to his wife, who disappeared all those years ago. Meanwhile, Carol’s mother Moira is determined to get to the bottom of it all, not wanting Carol to be treated this way.

Overall, I found this book charming. Moira was my favorite of the characters. Despite being in her 70s, she’s got fight to her and she’s not going to let daughter be mistreated. The characters in this one are fleshed our well and the story has some great turns in it. I do think there’s a bit of a pacing issue in the middle, but the end clips along nicely! This is the second of Norton’s books I’ve read and I really adore his writing style.

Overall, this was a nice little quick read that I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVia for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC!

A thoroughly enjoyable novel written by a master storyteller, tells the story of two families who merge, become undone, and then find themselves together again, facing a common problem.

This book has it all, mystery, intrigue, and tantalizing secrets, and it proves that we never stop growing emotionally, regardless of age, as long as we remain open to the process...

Until next time, dear readers, this one is a keeper, grab a copy when it is hot off the presses, I guarantee you won't be disappointed! 😘

n a small Irish village lives Carol, a divorced teacher with one grown son. She becomes taken with the father of one of her students, a man named Declan. Years ago, Declan's wife Joan up and left him and their two children leaving them to find their own way through life without her., When Carol and Declan come together, they become the talk of the town. Carol is devoted to Declan and moves into his home and helps to raise his children, although they distance themselves from her as the grow. Although disheartened, Carol only cleaves more closely to Declan,. After his children grow and move out, it is now just the two of them in Declan's house - a home he never wants to leave and never wants sold.
As time moves on, Declan becomes ill. Carol tends to his every need and plans on continue to keep him in his beloved home. His children, however, have other plans.
The writing is lovely and the characters are very well developed. No one character is purely good or bad. While this book has some mystery to it, it is really the story of relationships and their impact on our lives and well being.
The only better than Graham Norton's writing is having Graham Norton read it to you. As a performer, he is expressive and and no one could be better to convey his characters than himself.

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC of this book.

I loved all of Graham Norton’s previous novels so naturally I inhaled FOREVER HOME in one sitting. I enjoy his storytelling. A dark comedy, entertaining, family drama, small town living, very IRISH! I loved Moira. Despite the dark comedy read, it was humorous. I look forward to more from Norton! Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to HarperVia and NetGalley for this ARC of Graham Norton's 'Forever Home.'

This is popular fiction (I don't really like that term but it's what's used) at its best. A dark-ish comedy set in small town Ireland with an improbable storyline and a really terrific cast of characters.

The "Grotty' Crottie clan and the Barry clan (past, present, and future) are the two main sets of protagonists who's points of convergence are Declan Barry and the family home on a genteel terrace in a harbor-side village.

There's some slapstick, some genuine emotions, as the intrigues of this family and building play out. Given the darkness of some of the storyline (which gets darker as you move through it) there is plenty of gentle humor and, for me, a good few belly laughs. Some might find that juxtaposition incongruous but for me it's a good reflection of the Irish psyche.

Norton's writing style is somewhat at odds with his TV personality, maybe it's a gentler side of it, but I loved this.

Fabulous! One of my favorite books of the year, and featuring maybe one of my favorite characters of all time. I listened to most of this (which was a delight as it is read by Graham Norton himself), but read some too when I couldn't listen at the moment. Very very good, will recommend to lots of readers.

What starts out as a pleasant, entertaining character drama about families turns into a silly romp that sounds like a great story for The Big Red Chair. The shift in the story, the revelation of a long standing family secret, is a shift in the plot that's fairly jarring, almost like two stories are joined together.

Who would have thought that Graham Norton’s many talents extended to the writing of fiction as well? This was a highly enjoyable read that I found captivating and well-imagined.

As a fan of classic mystery writers like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, I enjoy a book of mystery and intrigue. While Norton’s style was much more contemporary, fresh, and controlled, I see glimmers of these two writers in his writing. What I particularly enjoyed about this novel was its atmospheric qualities and the ways in which the small Irish town in which it is set is imagined for the reader. This is a book of interesting characters, full of suspense and mystery.

3-1/2 stars. This was a surprisingly relaxing read, particularly for a novel with a dead body at its center. I suppose it could be classified as a "cozy" mystery. Set in a small (fictional) Irish village, the novel involves two families brought together by some very unusual circumstances. Carol, a former teacher, met Declan when he hired her to tutor his daughter Sally, a student in Sally's class. Teacher and student seemed to bond quickly, but at the same time, a quiet romance began between Carol and Declan. Carol is a divorced mother of one adult son living in London and only intermittently in touch. Declan's wife "went away" when their children were quite young, and he's been raising Killian and Sally on his own for years.

Then Declan is struck down with early-onset dementia, and in short order, his children have moved him to a nursing home, and instructed Carol that they are selling his house, and that she will have to move out immediately. With nowhere else to go, Carol moves back to her parents' home, and they begin a campaign to salvage her pride and the home she'd shared with Declan for five years by buying the house through a straw company. All goes smoothly until after they've taken possession, returned to the house, and notice a terrible smell apparently coming from the basement.

Interesting and sometimes mysterious characters made this an engaging read, and one I enjoyed enough that I plan to explore this author's backlist in the future.

Graham Norton is an excellent author and an even better narrator on audio. I was lucky enough to get an ARC book and audio format from netgalley and it made my summer. I would add this to your TBR and definitely get the audio. I went on extra long walks just to hear how the story turns out. The Guardian review described the books as undemanding and I would go a step further to say - undemanding and comforting in how relationships are described and how Norton narrates, sometimes changing dialect/ accents - basically enacting the whole book on audio. Lovely!

An unexpected delight! Dark, funny, emotional, VERY Irish. Characters and setting are well developed, banter is great, the plot kept me guessing but wasn't so twisty that I couldn't follow what was going on. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I like Graham Norton, I truly do but i wonder why he writes so much about women, mothers and daughters? I don't quite feel like they ever feel like real women! I had read an interview about his book that had been made into a show and how they fleshed out the woman characters so much better than he did and I totally agreed. So why write this then? Why not write what you know? I liked the book well enough, its easy and funny but I don't think he knows much about women.

Graham Norton is an autobiy for me and this was a wonderful look I to life in Ireland. The characters were so well developed and the plot was thought-provoking and entertaining. Another five star from this author!

This was another win from Graham Norton. It was a delightful family drama, with a twist I didn’t see coming! I loved the main character’s mother, Moira, and some of the side characters were entertaining as well. I would have liked a bit more explanation about Sally’s memories of her youth. But all in all, this was captivating, and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read it in advance.

I’m always a bit skeptical about celebrity novels, but this was a thoroughly entertaining and heart- felt novel imbued with good humor and keen social observations. I also usually shy clear of audiobooks read by the author, but Norton is a terrific narrator. Unputodownable.
Recommended for all fiction readers.

I was aware of Graham Norton from clips I saw on Instagram from his show. I always enjoy his personality and interaction with the celebrities he has on his show but I didn't realize he also was an author

This book has an interesting story and good characters.

I'm going to read Norton's past books - - and look forward to his next one.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***



I adore Graham Norton's novels, but this one wasn't my favorite. The characters felt very one-dimensional, and the story required a LOT of suspension of disbelief. What innocent person finds a body in their house -- a body they had nothing to do with putting there -- and DOESN'T call the police? Carol's mother (who is batsh*t crazy) wants her to keep the news to herself and help her dispose of the body, but Carol is 48 YEARS OLD. Why does a grown woman go along with this lunacy? And then they dump the body, and . . . that's it. No repercussions. No consequences. They just get away with it.

And don't get me started on Joan. She let her husband keep her away from her children for decades? No mother would allow that. I might have fallen for this part of the story if we'd had a clearer picture of who Declan was before he met Carol, and before dementia changed him. Was he controlling, angry, difficult? Did he use threats to keep Joan away? We don't really get a strong sense that he did, or that he mistreated Joan while they were together, so why did Joan agree to it? I need way more information for me to find this part of the story reasonable.

Overall I don't think this was Graham's best work. The story and characters didn't rival Home Stretch at all. But his writing style is still charming, and I'll still be anxiously awaiting his next one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Via for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I am new to Graham Norton and this will not be my last book by him! This was such a fast paced read! Carol loves and lives with Declan later in her life, and unfortunately, he has developed early onset dementia. When his children move him suddenly into a nursing home, Carol has to move back home with her parents and no job, at an age when even her grown son is on his own. As Carol starts coming to terms with her life change, some secrets emerge from Declan’s past, causing Carol to now question everything she knew about him. Enter Moira, Carol’s mother, who adds a sarcastic wit to the situation as well as a crazy resolution to the drama. Got to love our dysfunctional families, especially salty moms like Moira!

Fast paced, funny and great characters that are so real that you have empathy for them.

Highly recommend!!

I've only recently discovered Graham Norton's books (and know him from celeb interview clips on social media) and think he is very talented. The storyline held my interest and reminded me of Sally Hepworth's books.