Home Stretch

by Graham Norton

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294	9	90,476	(3.87)	3
Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: In this "compelling, bighearted, emotionally precise page-turner" (Sunday Times), the New York Times bestselling writer and acclaimed television host explores the aftermath of a tragedy on a small-town to illuminate the shame and longing that can flow through generations�??and how the secrets of the heart cannot stay be buried forever. It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, are involved in an accident. Three survive. Three are killed. The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them ripple throughout the small town. Connor survived, but living among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as carrying the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he eventually makes a home�??of sorts�??for himself in New York, where he finds shelter and the possibility of forging a new life. But the secrets�??the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind�??will not be silenced. Before long, Connor will have to confront his past. A powerful and timely novel of emigration and return, Home Stretch demonstrates Norton's keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy�??and their devastating effect on or… (more)

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The day before a wedding in a small Cork town in the late 1980s, an awful car crash kills three people, including the bride and groom. Graham Norton's novel Home Stretch follows the lives of their families over the next 30 years and how the crash affects them. The plotting is sentimental and clumsy, and Norton would have benefited from at least one more editing pass focusing on segues between scenes/POVs. (Plus, there is at least one big plot hole, aside from any of the unlikely coincidences: how, with a conviction for dangerous driving causing death, was Connor able to get a U.S. visa? Even if he was able to get a waiver, surely that would have been a lengthy and involved enough process that his then-partner would have had to find out about what had happened?)

Despite these issues, this was a quick and engrossing read. Norton's prose is smoothly readable, and he has an ear for authentic-sounding dialogue and an eye for a telling detail of person or place. There is heart to the book, especially when it comes to reflections on what it's like to be queer in the Ireland of the late 2010s vs the 1980s. If you're looking for a somewhat grounded yet undemanding work of contemporary Irish fiction, I'd recommend this.

Consider this 3.5 stars because of Norton's ability to make me fly through a book in just over three hours even when sleep-deprived in a waiting room. (

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siriaeve | Jul 23, 2023 |

From the 1980s to the mid 2010s, this is the story of Connor, a teenage Irish boy who is asked along to the beach by a group of older teens. On the way home an accident and several of the youth are killed, one a girl the day before her wedding.

Connor is blamed for the crash, but was he driving the car?

Over the decades we follow Connor's life as he totally seperates himself from his former life in Ireland.

Norton's writing is superb, and listening to him read the novel is wonderful. (

)

Steven1958 | Sep 17, 2022 |

I really like Norton’s style of contemporary Irish fiction. It’s relatable and avoids being twee. (

)

thewestwing | Aug 12, 2022 |

My second Norton novel and I liked it very much. It deals with the aftermath of a car accident on the eve of a wedding that leaves three young people dead and families shattered. Blamed for the tragedy, Connor Hayes flees his village in Ireland and cuts ties with his past. Or he tries to, but he is haunted by events and secrets that take decades to reveal. I liked the characters and the one that I disliked just reinforces Graham Norton's skill in creating interesting people who sometimes do awful things. This novel explores sexuality, the toxicity of secrets and self-denial, and also human resilience. Gotta get a copy of Holding now. (

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huntersun9 | Jun 15, 2022 |

Connor knew there was no place for him in the town after the accident, especially now everyone knew he had been the driver of the car. Three of the passengers were killed, including a young couple who were to have been married the next day. A girl was left in a wheel chair. Just Connor and the car's owner, the son of the local doctor were virtually unscathed. Connor finds it impossible both for himself.and his parents and decides to leave.

Over twenty five years later his nephew, the son of his sister and the doctor's son, accidentally finds him in New York, and Connor realises that he owes it to his parents to go home, and to reveal the truth of the accident. He has carried the burden for too long.

This novel is about far more than the accident and it's legacy. It is about a young man who needs to come to terms with his own sexuality, and the needs of the community to accept it too.

An intriguing book, which raises many issues in an empathetic fashion. Well worth the read. (

)

smik | Nov 28, 2021 |

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Irish Book Award (Winner – Popular Fiction – 2020)

Irish Book Award (Nominee – Popular Fiction – 2020)

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Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:

In this "compelling, bighearted, emotionally precise page-turner" (Sunday Times), the New York Times bestselling writer and acclaimed television host explores the aftermath of a tragedy on a small-town to illuminate the shame and longing that can flow through generations�??and how the secrets of the heart cannot stay be buried forever.
It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, are involved in an accident. Three survive. Three are killed.

The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them ripple throughout the small town. Connor survived, but living among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as carrying the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he eventually makes a home�??of sorts�??for himself in New York, where he finds shelter and the possibility of forging a new life.

But the secrets�??the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind�??will not be silenced. Before long, Connor will have to confront his past.

A powerful and timely novel of emigration and return, Home Stretch demonstrates Norton's keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy�??and their devastating effect on or

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amazon ca I:t is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, are involved in an accident. Three survive. Three are killed.

The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them ripple throughout the small town. Connor survived, but living among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as carrying the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he eventually makes a home—of sorts—for himself in New York, where he finds shelter and the possibility of forging a new life.

But the secrets—the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind—will not be silenced. Before long, Connor will have to confront his past.

A powerful and timely novel of emigration and return, Home Stretch demonstrates Norton’s keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy—and their devastating effect on ordinary live

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