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 ordinary lives.

A runaway boy with nothing finds everything he needs, including a faimly, in the most unlikely of places--at a racetrack.

In 2002, Lynn Reardon quit her Washington DC area office job and moved to rural Texas to open a racehorse adoption ranch, LOPE (LoneStar Outreach to Place Ex-Racers). Since then, LOPE has helped transition more than 425 thoroughbreds into new homes. These are some of their stories.

David and Edith are happy to return home to Jamaica, having spent several dreary years living in England. Laura, their niece and surrogate child, is delighted to see them again. But for Brenda, Laura's friend, arriving home from the USA and England to 'find herself', the adjustment is not so smooth... In Homestretch, Velma Pollard has shown great sensitivity in the unravelling of her characters' various life stories. Wistful notalgia and joyful homecoming are delicately interwoven with tangible descriptions of Jamaican life, both past and present.

'I defy anyone not to snort, howl and recoil' The Sunday Times 'Full of wicked asides, tart observations and sharp remarks that could only have originated in Graham Norton's witty brain.' Terry Wogan Looking around the room I saw what life really was. It was made up of my passions. I saw my life reflected back at me. People I liked, people I loved, people I had shared half a century with. All the stories of my life were together in that one room and it made me very happy. Who wouldn't want a friend like Graham Norton? A little bit naughty, full of frank advice, bursting with gossip about the world's biggest stars - but most of all with an emphatic love of life and all its joys, big and small. Join him - glass of wine in hand, faithful doggy friend by your side - and delve in as he shares the loves of his life.