Graham Norton’s debut novel Holding will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 28 November.
The book was selected with the help of a panel of brilliant library staff from across the UK.
We have an exclusive extract of Holding for you to try right now and some reading group questions to get your discussions going. You can even WIN 10 copies for your reading group when you visit our Noticeboard!
Holding
Duneen is a quiet place, far enough from the big towns to have kept its own rhythms. Its residents include cast down policeman PJ who lives a lonely, uneventful life punctuated only by the next meal – until now; the beautiful and mysterious family of three spinster sisters each with their own secrets and sorrows; and of course, the town’s gossip who think she knows the answers. When a grim discovery is made on a building site up by the old school, it becomes the catalyst for half lived secrets and seething rivalries to come to light and this silent, once innocent and repressed-seeming town is revealed to have a much darker, hungrier undertow.
Selection panel review
Our library reading panel loved Holding – here are some of their comments:
“You know how Graham Norton is a) wonderful, b) funny, and c) someone who ‘gets’ other people? Well, that apparently applies to his novel writing, too. This has the perfect blend of light humour and mystery, wrapped up in engaging storytelling that you would want from Mr Norton. His characters are thoroughly rounded and believable, the story quick and engaging. I can see people lapping this up because it’s Graham Norton, but it really deserves to be praised on its own merits.”
“This is a novel that you can lose yourself in straight away. Centred round a small community in Ireland you become instantly involved with all the characters because they are described so well by the author. The story has many different strands; it’s a study of family relationships and small community politics with a hint of a crime drama running through it so it has something for everyone.”
About the author
Graham Norton is one of the UK’s most treasured comedians and presenters. Born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, his first big TV appearance was on Channel 4’s Father Ted in the early 1990s. Known for his quick wit Graham has hosted 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 also fronts his own self-titled chat show The Graham Norton Show. Graham has won 7 BAFTAs for Best Entertainment Performance, and Best Entertainment Programme. Holding is his first novel.
A word from Graham
“I’m thrilled but also very nervous about being part of the Radio 2 Book Club. Hopeful that people will enjoy Holding, but fearful that if they don’t, they will have no qualms about telling me precisely what they didn’t like. While it is my debut novel, I am hardly in the first blush of youth, so lots of the themes are about getting older and how we all relate to our pasts. The people who get trapped by events from long ago and those who find that it is never too late to make a fresh start. There is a crime element to the story, quite a bit of romance and of course it is all set in my homeland. I hope everyone gets something from the book and look forward to getting all the feedback, but please, a plea from a first time nervous novelist, be gentle with me!”
Get involved
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 28 November to hear a live interview with Graham Norton talking about his book.
Have you read Holding? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter or follow Graham. You can take a look at what other readers thought, or leave your own review.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.
