Still, Forever Home is effortlessly readable – mainly thanks to its reliance on explanatory speech rather than descriptive prose – possessed of a super twist and full of rounded characters to keep close to your heart. Settling in with one of his novels is akin to sitting down with an enormous cup of tea at the end of a very long day. Her mother, Moira, a very typical Irish mummy is convinced that all is not right in how Carol has been treated and, although quite an elderly woman, she sets off on a campaign to uncover the truth about Declan, his house and his family. There are more serious issues dealt with in the book (dementia, child pornography, gay couple having a child), but these are all handled with the lightest of touches so that the book never becomes bogged down but rather stays entertaining and gossipy.

Carol discovers that Declan’s past is full of secrets and the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance. She loves Declan, and the double blow of losing him to his illness and losing her home as well, is devastating.

This novel, about a family often on the edge, is set in a small town in Ireland and narrated by the author, Graham Norton. She has an undemanding job, lives alone in her own personal squalor, and her only social life is online. We have had a somewhat sickly household over the last few weeks, with Covid plus some other assorted ailments, and still not out of the woods yet, but hopefully it’s the beginning of the end and we can start getting back to normal soon. Forever Home audiobook narrated by the author, Graham Norton, is definitely a "Yes, please" and "Thank you very much" experience for me.

She met her ex-husband, Alex, in the staffroom and taught the children of her current life-partner, Declan.Carol's mother is determined to get to the bottom of things, she won't see her daughter treated this way. Having really enjoyed other novels by Graham Norton, I was looking forward to reading his latest, Forever Home. I really enjoy the writing of Graham Norton whether is be his biographies or perhaps more surprising his novels. Secrets are uncomfortable notions but, when Declan sinks into early-onset dementia, the answers to the questions on everyone’s lips disappear into the grey, murky maelstrom of his consciousness.