Graham Norton - Holding

Rating: 4/5

Review:
An enjoyable novel

I enjoyed this book.  I like Graham Norton as a comic and TV host, but comics and TV hosts don't always make good novelists by any means.  However, Norton has written a very decent, readable book here.

Holding is the story of a small Irish village, in which an old body is unearthed by builders.  The Garda investigation drives the plot, but it is really a vehicle for character studies and a portrait of how oppressive moral attitudes of the past (some of which still prevail) have brought life-long consequences.  It is very well done; Norton creates very believable characters about whom we care, and he treats them with understanding and humanity – which, from someone who can be so waspish, I found a little surprising and very gratifying.  The fat, decent policeman, the alcoholic housewife, the trapped spinster and others are all very well portrayed and the social currents which run in a small community are also very convincingly done.

This isn't a ground-breaking masterpiece, but Graham Norton writes well and has produced an enjoyable, readable novel with some real content.  Recommended.