Elizabeth Keane, a university professor in New York City, returns to Ireland, her native land, to take care of financial and practical matters after the death of her mother. In a box in a closet, hidden under a duvet, Elizabeth finds love letters written to her mother by a man named Edward Foley, of whom she has never heard. Raised by a single mother who kept mum about her male parent, Elizabeth realizes quickly that she has found her father, a farmer, who lives many hours' drive away.

And so the tale begins. It is a twisting, winding tale, little shocks and big surprises thrown in to an outwardly-seeming peaceful and rustic yarn. There is a side-story as well, of Elizabeth's 17-year old son and his missteps and secrets that lead to a whole new life opening up for Elizabeth.

I really enjoyed this book. In order to get it finished before bedtime, I skipped a hot dinner and opted for a sandwich; forwent a post-prandial walk in the bracing cold of a Canadian January, and put all thoughts aside of the thriller I'm watching on Netflix. It was well worth the little sacrifices. I liked Graham Norton's first novel, Holding, and A Keeper was even better. I hope he keeps writing; I'd love to read more of his novels. ( )

Graham Norton is one of those folks from the UK who seems able to turn his hand to anything. I’ve long been a fan of his talk show- he is a genius at putting even balky Americans at ease and he exudes good nature. So when I heard he’d written several books (his first, Holding, a prize winner) I knew I’d have to read them.
This was unexpected. Extremely well-written, which I did expect, but dark in a truly creepy way.
I don’t want to get too much into the plot for fear of spoiling it, but suffice to say, isolated areas near moors are involved, plus a cast of seriously sad and disturbed people. It all starts out seeming like a nice generational story, but as it goes on and the fibres get tangled about, the fog rolls in and suddenly you find yourself in a gothic horror.
Expertly switching between present and past keeps things pulling you along, until the final, somewhat rushed, ending.
A fun ride and it kept me up well past my bedtime to get to the end.
It’s high residue, too- the location is one that sticks in your head and I can almost feel the damp seeping from the walls, the despair in the wallpaper…
I did get the feeling the ending was squashed in as if the author was racing to finish the tale but I can understand the impulse as the reader races on, too.
Well worth a read and now I shall have to go read his others. Such a clever fellow and my goodness he is full of energy. Like Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, someone I would like at my ideal dinner table. ( )

Engaging story of secrets and identity and finding out who you really are where nothing is as you might expect. Personally I found Norton's first book much more interesting but this definitely held my attention in wanting to find out what would happen! ( )

Ok I know you told me not to waste my time, but I wasted my time. I won't bother with a review, here are my few notes:
Was this ghost-written? Poorly plotted and ridiculous. Melodrama without the good bits. Far too casual a treatment of pedophilia. Troubling portrayal of women. ( )

A Keeper. Graham Norton. 2018. Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland to settle her mother’s estate, and her son goes to California to visit his father. Since she knows nothing about her father, she wants son to know his. She finds a box of letters in her mother’s closet-letters that indicate her mother met a Edward Foley from West Cork through a personal ad. Later, at the reading of the will, Elizabeth learns she has been left a house in West Cork. She goes to West Cork and learns who her parents were and what sort of life they had. At the same time she is dealing with her son and his problems which have some parallels to her story. Readable but somewhat far-fetched. Lots of plot but also lots of unnecessary details. ( )