Confession time here. As a rule, I don't read books written by celebrities. 

I'm not really so sure why any more. It used to be some deep-rooted snobbery, thinking that actors and musicians and presenters surely couldn't be talented writers as well, and even though that line of thinking has bled away over the years, the general aversion to celebrity novelists has remained.

Then, last week, I watched Graham Norton talking about his latest novel on the Lorraine show, and I was instantly intrigued. The plot sounded great of course, but the passion with which he talked about it was what really sent me to the Kindle store and, from there, my little reading nook in the living room while the baby slept so I could devour it in peace. And devour it I did, in less than 48 hours. 

Another general rule of mine is that if a book ruins my mascara, it gets five stars. Whether of laughter, pain, solidarity or relief, if tears are shed then you've got me. I'm done. And this one certainly gets those five stars.

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HOME STRETCH by Graham Norton

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.

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This one hooks you from the get-go, and I love books like this. I have a huge TBR list, a one-year-old, and a novel of my own in the works - I don't have time to wait for a book to grip me. It's the first chapter, maybe the second, and if I'm not into it then I'm afraid it gets shelved. But Connor and Ellen were captivating and intricate from the very beginning.

What I truly loved about this book what it's simplicity. It doesn't try to dress anything up or throw in any gratuitous romance or drama scenes; everything progresses the story while building wonderful characters who you can't help but fall in love with. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I found joy in more pages than I can count. And the mascara was definitely ruined by some genuine tears. This is a beautiful, bittersweet family drama that sparks of realism and no doubt will speak to a great many people.

With this novel, Graham Norton has cemented his place as one of contemporary literature's great storytellers and is a serious writer to follow. I'm now going to read his other two novels and subscribe to his updates, because he's going to be one to watch, I'm sure.