Forever Home
The warm, funny and twisty novel about family secrets from the bestselling author of FRANKIE
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4.1 • 176 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Forever Home: the dark, twisty comedy of hidden household secrets
'Effortlessly readable, possessed of a super twist'
OBSERVER
'Dark, funny . . . gripping from the start'
DAILY MAIL
'Beautifully constructed with a twisty plot'
JO BRAND
Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small Irish town. A second chance at love with the older Declan brings her unexpected happiness, but their romance sparks speculation: what does a woman like her see in a man like him? And what happened to the wife who abandoned him all those years ago?
The gossip only serves to bring them closer, but when Declan becomes ill, things fall apart. Carol is forced to leave their beloved home and return to her parents. Unwilling to see her daughter suffer, Carol's mother vows to get to the bottom of things. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance.
'A winning mix of family drama and comedy crime caper . . . you may well find yourself reading it in one sitting'
HEAT
'Norton is the king of the Irish small-town mystery'
ANNE GRIFFIN
'Top-notch . . . full of warmth, comedy and dark secrets'
DAILY MIRROR
Readers adore Forever Home
'I loved every word' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'A deliciously dark comedy drama, full of secrets, bad decisions and difficult relationships' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I could not put it down once I started it' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Full of twists and turns' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Norton (Home Stretch) misses the mark in this blend of emotional family saga and questionable crime cover-up set in seaside Ireland. Divorced English teacher Carol Crottie, 48, found second love with Declan Barry, the father of one of her students, 10 years ago. Declan's early-onset dementia leads his two children—unhappily isolated Sally and greedy, self-serving Killian—to pack him off to a nursing home and sell his beloved house in fictional Ballytoor. Carol's parents, owners of a successful café chain, use a shell company to secretly buy the house from Sally and Killian, but then Carol and her imposing mother, Moira, discover a body in a basement freezer. They assume it's the corpse of Joan, Declan's wife, who'd left suddenly years before. When Joan shows up and clearly knows more than she's telling, Moira concocts a series of schemes to get to the truth and avoid alerting the police, ostensibly to spare Declan from charges he can't defend. The family dramas, from Killian's unease with becoming a father with his husband to Carol's regression to adolescent frustration in the face of her parents' steamrollering, are evocatively rendered, but the oddly downplayed central traumas clash with the mildly humorous tone. Despite its zany plot, this is more limp than madcap.
Customer Reviews
My first time reading Graham Norton
I have not read any other books by Graham but did watch the tv adaptation of “Holding”. Which I enjoyed so I thought I would try this novel. It does draw you into the story and the characters. A bit of humour and a twist in the tale all make it a very good read. I enjoy very much and will read his other novels too.
Ok
Too much back and forth between different characters makes it quite confusing.
Too long and drawn out of a story.
Page turner
Excellent read could not put the book down.