Home Stretch
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH POPULAR FICTION AWARDS
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4.3 • 486 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'Graham Norton's new novel has me in floods... His gift for characterisation is positively Binchy-esque! Such nuance and warmth! It's GORGEOUS' MARIAN KEYES
'Beautifully written. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy read. Utterly fantastic.' LIZ NUGENT
'Full of heart and humanity and I loved every single page. What a storyteller!' ELIZABETH DAY
'Graham Norton's examination of small-town Irish lives continues in his deeply moving third novel. He is a magnificent writer.' JOHN BOYNE
'[Graham Norton is a] king of the page turners... A total triumph' ANNE GRIFFIN
Shame and longing can flow through generations, but the secrets of the heart will not be buried for ever.
It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony a group of young friends, including bride and groom, drive out to the beach. There is an accident. Three survive, but three are killed.
The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them are felt throughout the small town. Connor is one of the survivors. But staying among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as living with the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he makes a home - of sorts - for himself in New York. The city provides shelter and possibility for the displaced, somewhere Connor can forget his past and forge a new life.
But the secrets, the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind will not be silenced. And before long, Connor will have to confront his past.
Graham Norton's powerful and timely novel of emigration and return demonstrates his keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy - with devastating results.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A national treasure as a broadcaster, Graham Norton set himself on a path towards also becoming one of Britain and Ireland’s favourite authors with his first two novels Holding and A Keeper. This third maintains that trajectory via the engrossing story of lives transforming in the wake of a car crash that has devastating consequences for a small Irish town. Spanning decades and continents, Home Stretch explores guilt, shame, prejudice and identity, and how a person’s past can change as much as their future when, in a jaw-dropping twist, long-buried secrets surface. Zooming in on the lives of Connor and Ellen, siblings forced apart by the tragedy, Norton crafts two authentic, nuanced characters whose sadnesses and joys will tug at your heart throughout.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
TV host Norton's excellent third novel (after A Keeper) explores the aftermath of a tragedy as it plays out over decades. In 1987, a car accident outside a small Irish town leaves three dead the day before a wedding—including the bride and groom—and sends into a tailspin two young men who were also in the car when it crashed, Martin Coulter and Connor Hayes. Over the years, Martin and Connor deal with the repercussions of the accident and wrestle with guilt over the deaths in diametrically opposite ways. While Martin attempts to make amends, Connor buries the past and lies to those around him about his involvement. With surprising twists and touching moments, Norton explores the immense sense of loss that comes with being a survivor, and how nothing is ever truly forgotten for the families of those who died. While Martin and Connor settle into new lives in London and New York, a chance encounter and Martin's entreaties to the families of those who died in the crash force Connor to confront his role in the accident. Norton delicately covers themes of abandonment, death, and loss with sophistication and thoughtful empathy: "time might be able to numb, it could distract, but it was incapable of truly fixing anything." This gripping and compassionate outing is Norton's best yet.
Customer Reviews
Insightful and informative yet with poignant moments
Drawn into the story immediately it holds your attention throughout with it’s twists and turns while highlighting a very important issue. Made me laugh and cry, both out loud. A wonderful novel.
Read read read
I have never tried to cook and read at the same time. I could not put this down. I devoured it in 2 days between kids. Dogs. Work. Sitting in the car waiting for kids. AMAZING. Thank you.
A Great Read
I mean Graham Norton, does he write books? I purchased it with curiosity. Straight away I was drawn in, I mean did he really write this? What a fantastic read, the story was such that I had a few nights of reading to the early hours because I could not put it down. Articulate and well written, the plight of being gay in days when it was not accepted and the self punishment and pain that a young man goes through because he feels shame. This book was delightful yet sad and happy and insightful. Highly recommend it