Graham’s books are ‘keepers’ for his hordes of Irish fans

BANDON writer and broadcaster Graham Norton won the heart of the nation with his first two novels.

Holding and A Keeper, both which have lots of West Cork references, hold spots in Eason Top 5 Best Selling Irish Fiction Books of the Decade

Over 700 recently polled Eason customers voted ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue as their choice for Irish Fiction Book of the Decade, reinforcing the female-led suspense story as a favourite trend of the last 10  years.

Although the last decade began with uncertainty over the viability of printed books and high-street book stores, Eason data shows that book lovers continue to enjoy physical books as a form of entertainment.

Erotic fiction made a surprise appearance as a mainstream trend in the last decade, with the 50 Shades trilogy by EL James topping best-seller lists with Eason and globally. The emergence of book club culture has also contributed to the growing popularity of books in culture, a trend that looks set to continue into 2020 and beyond.

Graham previously made a number of revelations about his first two best-selling novels.

The village of Duneen in his debut, Holding, was loosely based on Durrus, he said, and he noted that although he had included ‘Ross’ sisters in his work of fiction, he had since learned there, in fact, were Ross sisters living in Durrus.

‘I never knew,’ he said, although it was a total coincidence and his characters bear no resemblance to the ‘real’ Ross sisters, he insisted.

He also revealed that he had drawn from his Bandon connection for the locations in his second novel, A Keeper, so readers might spot areas around Timoleague in  it. In fact, his mother Rhoda told him a story that inspired his own plot for the novel.

He referred to the ‘lonely hearts’ advert placed in the Farmers Journal by one of the book’s main characters, similar to the ads that ran in The Southern Star for many years – and still do, sometimes! Regarding critics, Norton said his mum Rhoda was his greatest sounding board.

‘I would be disappointed if mum didn’t like my books. We both like a good story and the same type of books, so she always reads mine,’ he said.

As well as Graham, Irish writers in both fiction and non-fiction categories continue to dominate sales, with the ‘Oh My God What a Complete Aisling’ series by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen, ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney, ‘Children of the Rising’ by Joe Duffy and ‘The Batttle’ by Paul O’ Connell’ amongst some of the bestselling book of the decade at Eason.

Eason group head of marketing Brendan Corbett said: ‘Reading trends and preferences are constantly evolving and 2020 looks to see growing trends in uplifting fiction, and health and wellness non-fiction reads. We are looking forward to seeing new trends emerge in the next 10 years.’

Eason Top Best Selling Books of the Decade:

Eason Top 5 Best Selling Irish Fiction

Books of the Decade

1. Oh my God What a Complete Aisling

- Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

2. Holding - Graham Norton

3. Room - Emma Donoghue

4. The Importance of Being Aisling

- Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

5. A Keeper – Graham Norton

Eason Top 5 Best Selling Fiction

Books of the Decade

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – E.L James

2. Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

3. Oh my God What a Complete Aisling -

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

4. The Help – Kathyrn Stockett

5. Fifty Shades Darker - E.L James

Eason Top 5 Best Selling

Irish Sport Books of the Decade

1. The Battle – Paul O’Connell

2. The Test – Brian O’Driscoll

3. The Second Half – Roy Keane and

Roddy Doyle

4. Ordinary Joe – Joe Schmidt

5. John Giles: A Football Man – John Giles