Holding

The Sunday Times bestseller and debut novel from Graham Norton.’Poised and perceptive’ Sunday Times’… a deftly plotted story as moving as it is compelling’ Sunday Mirror’Deeply accomplished … brilliantly observed’ Good Housekeeping’… one of the more authentic debuts I’ve read in recent years … in such an understated manner, eschewing linguistic eccentricity … in favour of genuine characters and tender feeling … this is a fine novel’ John Boyne, Irish Times’It’s funny and wonderfully perceptive’ Wendy Holden’It is beautiful and yet devastatingly sad’ Daily Express’Strenuously charming … surprisingly tender’ Metro ‘Heartwarming and observant’ StylistThe remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother of two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste. So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of lovable characters, and explore – with searing honesty – the complexities and contradictions that make us human.]]>