Forever Home: THIS AUTUMN'S MUST-READ NOVEL FROM GRAHAM NORTON

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Neither Killian nor Sally find they’re content and they are only too willing to trace their misery back to the effect that Carol had on their childhood routines. There are secrets, there is a sense of shame and a desire to appear normal, even when things clearly aren’t, and in this way the author makes a nod, though not a heavy one, to elements of Ireland’s past that it is still coming to terms with.

A book that deals with the despair of dementia, the relationship between parents and children with a twisty mystery and some highly comic moments thrown in for good measure. The children resented her, understandable because she had taken their mother's place, someone they both felt would come back. As always beautifully observed, the beginning is his usual insightful look at people and their actions and interactions, so much so, I found myself thinking “this is our new Maeve Binchy”, which is high praise indeed. In a cruel twist, Killian and Sally secure power of attorney over their father’s affairs, admit him to a nursing home and put the house up for sale and Carol has no rights to object. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, strange rumours that were never confronted and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance.I am a huge fan of Graham Norton’s and have previously reviewed his earlier novels Holdingand Home Stretchon here. If there are secrets and rumours standing in the way of her daughter's happiness, she intends to confront them. and honesty, and I would have happily read a lot more about Carol and the community of this small Irish town.

She just wants a quiet celebration: her daily swim in the sea and a cup of tea with granddaughter Elin and great-granddaughter Beca. His children are untrusting and greedy, and Carol is made to leave their beloved home with its worn oak floors and elegant features and move back in with her parents. Although this novel was very readable and I did enjoy the story very much, I did feel that some of the character's actions stretched credibility. It's wonderfully funny, yet a bit sad, filled with secrets galore, twists and turns in family dynamics and to what lengths a family will go to protect each other.

Years pass and the children are grown and out of the house when Carol sees Declan begin to show signs of dementia. If you like mysteries that aren’t too graphic that revolves around family relationships, give this book a shot!