Darkly Humorous and Heart-Wrenching

HOLDING
Graham Norton
Atria Books
August 1, 2017


Holding is a mystery wrapped in a story of life in the remote Irish village of Duneen in County Cork. Sergeant PJ Collins has been constable in the village for 15 years when a long awaited crime occurs in the form of human bones turned up on a construction site. The very overweight and lonely 53-year-old Collins has always been certain that he could prove himself, if only if he had a real crime. He begins to investigate but has only a short time before the policemen from Cork arrive. In speaking with the villagers, the name Tommy Burke pops up. Young Tommy Burke was supposedly seen with a suitcase boarding a bus about twenty years previously, leaving two young women broken-hearted. An often told story is that of the two girls coming to blows in the street. One, Evelyn Ross, still lives with her two spinster sisters. The other, Brid Riordan, lives in Duneen as well, sunk in an unhappy marriage and drinking herself into a stupor daily. Other villagers have an interest in the bones, and in keeping the secrets associated with them.

While Holding takes the form of a mystery, it is more about how the choices we make, or have made for us, can color the rest of our lives. It is darkly comic in places and heart-wrenching in others. The village itself becomes a character in its own right, filled with all-too-human beings. I was only vaguely aware of Graham Norton's career as a TV and Radio presenter and talk show host, but I am sure that he can expand into writing novels if TV ever falls through for him. This is an impressive debut. Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars