Publisher: 29th September 2020 by Hachette Australia
Pages: 360 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: contemporary
My Rating: 4 cups
Synopsis:
It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for the wedding of two of its young inhabitants. They're barely adults, not so long out of school and still part of the same set of friends they've grown up with. As the friends head home from the beach that last night before the wedding, there is a car accident. Three survive the crash but three are killed. And the reverberations are felt throughout the small town.
Connor, the young driver of the car, lives. But staying among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as living with the shame, and so he leaves the only place he knows for another life. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, by the noughties he has made a home - of sorts - for himself in New York. The city provides shelter and possibility for the displaced, somewhere Connor can forget his past and forge a new life.
But the secrets, the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind will not be silenced. And before long, Connor will have to meet his past.
My Thoughts
Graham Norton is well known as a comedian, TV chat show host and , much to my surprise, novelist! I wanted to reconcile this funny man with what type of novel he would produce. Well, it would seem his talent list is long - this man can write! With very real characters and a most engaging ,topical story to tell, this read proved itself on multiple levels. All up an overall heartwarming tale that packs a powerful punch when it comes to families, friendships and the secrets that are kept.
‘There are moments in any life that are to be treasured, but only sometimes are they recognised as they happen. That was how the five people in the blue estate car felt that day. The windows down, an optimistic glow about the town, two of their number about to embark on a whole new life together. It felt special. This was not a day to be forgotten or confused with all the others.’
Graham delivers some really heavy and topical themes in the book - everything from death and guilt, to prejudice and harmony. Credit to him, however, he pulls it all off with much aplomb. Through the use of flashbacks to the key car crash event of 1987, Graham writes through multiple POV communicating piece by piece of the life changing events that occurred on that fateful day. It is the authenticity that shines through as the range of emotions of key characters speak openly to the reader. Exploring how times have changed from 1980s to the present day, Graham masterfully writes about stigmas especially pertaining to being gay. This story could easily have become heavy and hard to read, but cleverly Graham makes the overarching theme one of hope and right winning at the end of the day. Cleverly balancing good and bad, right and wrong, he merges it all into one very engaging tale.
‘The years, so many years, the hiding, the running, the love for these people he hadn’t allowed himself to feel, all came clattering down on him, leaving him crushed.’
Some readers may find it hard to understand and support but stick with it, for the book whilst having a bumpy start, really picks up pace and with some clever plot twists, comes out strong in the end. At the beginning there seemingly appears to be a multitude of characters to get your head around but that thins out sooner rather than later. One must also be prepared for not only chapter jumps in time (back and forth) but also within a chapter ie. ‘two years later...’ a new paragraph may begin.
In the end I found Home Stretch to be quite the read. A compelling tale for the modern reader from family to societal evolution seen through the eyes of one small Irish village. Multilayered and ultimately a most entertaining and engaging story.
‘Barry’s roundabout .... This was the scene of such devastation, the destruction of so many lives, surely it should look more significant? Cars, oblivious to the awful history of the place, cruised past. Connor felt it was rude, disrespectful somehow. True, he had spent his whole life trying to forget what had happened on this spot, but for the town of Mullinmore to do so seemed wrong.’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
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