Books TO READ in January/February

A Keeper by Graham Norton (Coronet, R301)

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother’s presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light. Forty years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries into the darkness. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on. This compelling novel confirms Graham Norton’s status as a fresh, contemporary literary voice.

The Waiter by Matias Faldbakken (Doubleday, R290)

Welcome to The Hills, Oslo’s most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition and clinging to the faded grandeur