Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging. The new relationship sparks local speculation: what does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned them all those years ago? But the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer. This story is as witty and smart as it is moving and poignant, and more than once it brought me to tears as I was reading about the bonds that the characters developed. SHAPIRO: Your life is much more cosmopolitan than your fiction. Your novels tend to focus on small-town experiences. And so as you fly from London to New York to Los Angeles, do you ever long for the kind of parochial life that you write about - minus the murder?

I absolutely loved this book. The arc I received was poorly presented, with no chapter breaks, nor, at times, paragraph breaks, so a fair bit of rereading took place, but this still did not detract from a great book. I really enjoyed the narration by Graham Norton; his easy-going voice and character kept the level of this mystery at the cozy level, infused with humor, deprecation, love, dislike, and general snarkiness. What's not to enjoy!? With a lighter tone of narration, it's not as dark as it could be and nothing is quite as tragic, even though a lot of deeper issues are uncovered. I don't believe anything is ridiculed by this lighter tone but you have to go into with it being a bit playful, maybe tongue in cheek, and therefore, a "cozy" mystery IMO. NORTON: ...As she drives along. A kind of - I wouldn't like to live there. She always has washing out. That dog looked killed (ph). And - until finally you get to where you're going and you've parked wrong. And that's... Like Richard Osman, his fellow TV host turned author, Graham Norton seems primed to capitalise on the seemingly insatiable market for cosy crime I devoured this novel within two days, it was an absolute joy to read and I highly recommend it to all.NORTON: Yeah. Oh, no, absolutely. And I think she's got that mothering thing where she shows her love through action - through deeds - rather than through actually telling anyone that she loves them. SHAPIRO: Everyone feels like they know you so well from television, from podcasts, from live events. What a fabulous read... Forever Home is his best so far. It's a complex and compelling story - truly unputdownable - but most importantly for me, it has real heart.' MARY LAWSON Having really enjoyed other novels by Graham Norton, I was looking forward to reading his latest, Forever Home. It follows teacher Carol who, after getting divorced, moves in with a much older man, Declan. This sets the locals gossiping until Declan becomes too ill to live at home, and is moved into a care home. Declan's children from his first marriage force Carol to leave the family home...

Carol is a very meek and taken advantage of main character. We learn that she began dating a fellow teacher who was much older than her and caused the gossip mill to go into overdrive. NORTON: ...Is taken from my mother, where - you know, silence in the car to me is you're driving along silently. For my mother, it is a constant monologue...The much-loved chatshow host made a smooth landing in the literary sphere when he published his first novel, Holding, in 2016. A Keeper (2018) and Home Stretch (2020) followed, cementing his place as a comic chronicler of the idiosyncrasies and strange goings on of small-town Ireland. His latest, Forever Home, sees him in familiar territory, with a mystery set in the fictional town of Ballytoor. Carol is devasted knowing Declan would be against selling the family home but with no other choice she moves in with her mother Moira. The writing style is delightful as ever, and I laughed so much at Graham Norton's sharp descriptions of his characters and biting observations of the stuff they say and do.