Author: Graham Norton
Narrated by Graham Norton
Released: October 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton
Category: Fiction, Contemporary, Historical, Family Drama, Book Review
The mystery of Elizabeth Keane’s father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh – not for lack of speculation.
Now, as Elizabeth returns to the village after her mother’s funeral, bringing with her own regrets and wounds, she finds a thin pile of ribbon-bound letters at the back of a wardrobe that may at last hold the key to her past.
It was the first week in January and Elizabeth Keane had flown from New York to Buncarragh after the death of her mother. Someone had to put her affairs in order and, while Elizabeth didn’t have particularly fond memories of Buncarragh, she felt guilty knowing she’d been all her mother had. While her teenage son, Zach has gone to stay with his father on the west coast, Elizabeth had taken the opportunity to travel to Ireland. The story alternates between Elizabeth in the present and her mother Patricia in the past. Elizabeth is hoping she can get the house cleared and sold quickly so she can return home, but while packing up her mother’s belongings she finds a bundle of letters written by her father, a man she has never known.
She placed the box on the floor and knelt in front of it. Wiping the dust from the lid, the dark sheen of the wood was revealed. Walnut? The corners were protected by small inlays of brass. She hoped it wasn’t locked. No, the lid lifted easily. Peering in, the contents were a bit of an anti-climax: a tiny yellow knitted booty and beneath that a thin pile of letters held together by an ancient cream ribbon. Elizabeth slipped the first letter from the pile and began to read.
