To describe too much of what transpires between Patricia and the Foleys would be to spoil an intricately constructed tale, but it is one in which menace and mystery abound, tackling themes of grief, isolation and a sociopathic determination fuelled by loss and hope. I had a couple of “eye roll” moments with this book, and I noticed several detail oversights, but this was an excellent read for me. Graham Norton’s follow-up to his hugely impressive debut novel, Holding, is a bleak family drama set across a parallel narrative forty years apart. I was determined to finish it, although was proud of myself to see it out till the bitter end which,although sad, ended on a positive note.

This is a hugely compelling family drama, of mothers whose children are everything, and of the darkness, heartbreak, intrigue, mental health issues and secrets that bubble within the facade of families, past and present. Graham William Walker is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist, known by his stage name Graham Norton. In the present, Elizabeth is faced with more unexpected shattering shocks regarding Zach that are to lead to life changing moves in her future. Stumbling across a small wooden box of letters penned to her mother in the early Seventies in response to a lonely hearts advert by the man she has been told is her father it provides her first opportunity to learn more about Edward Foley.It is also such a warm and moving book - i can only recommend the author and will immediately be looking for other books that he published. The snarky ex-husband didn't go over well either and actually just disappeared out of the end of the story, never to be heard from again. It's a sad and lovely book, brimful of tenderness and compassion, where the revelations of the past upturn the perceptions of the present. Her mother has been dead for five months, and Patricia still finds herself setting the table for two. Meanwhile she is told that she has also inherited another house, by the sea, which had belonged to her father whom she had never known.

I cannot say much here it would ruin the story ,very sad thread in it and a desperate act that tore lives apart.Of course, she is not there for guidance so she turns to her divorced husband to step in and be a father, something he has done little of before this.