Graham Norton has written four other novels, all Sunday Times bestsellers, in the UK and Ireland. His fiction writing has won him critical acclaim from across all media and the literary community.
Holding won the An Post Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction. A Keeper was shortlisted for both the Specsavers Popular Fiction Award and the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction. Home Stretch won the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction and has been optioned for a major TV series. Holding was made into a high-profile ITV drama, directed by Kathy Burke, and Forever Home was shortlisted at the 2022 Irish Book Awards.


Graham Norton is one of the UK's most respected and beloved broadcasters and presenters. He has won nine BAFTAs for Best Entertainment Performance and Best Entertainment Programme. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC One, is the BBC's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest and is a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK.
Graham won the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards in 2017. He is the host of The Graham Norton Book Club podcast.

'Atmospheric, creepy and impossible to put down.' the TIMES

'A compelling and moving story, expertly told, that will draw you in and keep you in its grip until the last page.' DAILY EXPRESS

'Magnificent ... his writing is evocative and perfect. His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting.' MARIAN KEYES

'I raved about Holding two years ago ... A Keeper is even better. A powerful, very sad story, beautiful writing, two time frames that are perfectly balanced. Outstanding. Will easily be one of my books of 2018.' JOHN BOYNE

'A gripping, thoughtful tale about the search for identity, belonging and self-possession.' OBSERVER

'Moving and darkly funny.' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'Smart, well-written and thoroughly entertaining.' IRISH INDEPENDENT

'It's a sad and lovely book, brimful of tenderness and compassion, where the revelations of the past upturn the perceptions of the present.' SUNDAY EXPRESS

'Charming and tender, a complete joy.' SUNDAY MIRROR

'Perfectly crafted, a beautiful, gripping account of Irish memory and deceit. A terrific achievement.' ANDREW O'HAGAN

From the bestselling author of Holding comes a masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland.

Dear Lonely Leinster Lady,
I'm not really sure how to begin . . .

The truth drifts out to sea, riding the waves out of sight. And then the tide turns.

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother's death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother's presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light.

40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries further into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on.

This compelling new novel confirms Graham Norton's status as a fresh, literary voice, bringing his clear-eyed understanding of human nature and its darkest flaws.