Carol Grottie, a local high school teacher, marries a fellow teacher, has a child, is divorced, meets the father of a student at her school and moves in with him. They do not marry as his wife disappeared from the town many years ago and could still be alive. They are two single adults who have found a second chance of happiness. The rest of Ballytoor, a small town in Ireland, do not see things in such simple terms. There’s plenty of gossip about the age difference; the fact that she was the teacher of his children; that she was divorced; and that his first wife had fled.

Their home is one of seven in a terrace of houses built in 1811 for the British officers who had come to the town as part of a small garrison. It features prominently in the novel, especially after the neighbours complain of a ‘dreadful smell’ that seems to emanate from the basement a short time after the house had been closed-up for a few weeks.

Norton’s comfy, chatty writing style is easy reading but takes a while before edge-of-the-seat tension forces the reader to urgently page-turn. The resilience of three major female characters is a joy to observe. A few surprises and the occasional touches of humour lower our feelings of anxiety at crucial moments.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Graham Norton is one of the UK’s most treasured comedians and presenters. Born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, Norton’s first big TV appearance was as Father Noel Furlong on Channel 4’s Father Ted in the early 1990s. He then secured a prime time slot on Channel 4 with his chat shows So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton.

Known for his quick wit Graham began hosting a variety of talent shows on BBC One from Strictly Dance Fever and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? to The Eurovision Song Contest and BAFTAs. Graham was soon approached by the BBC to front his own self-titled chat show The Graham Norton Show in 2007.

Graham Norton has won 9 BAFTAs for Best Entertainment Performance, and Best Entertainment Programme. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC1, a show on BBC Radio 2 every Saturday, and is a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Norton won the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards in 2017.