Don't Look Back in Ongar

Don't Look Back in Ongar is a 2024 comic novel by Irish playwright and author Paul Howard and is the twenty-fourth and last novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.^[1][2]

Don't Look Back in Ongar

Author	Paul Howard
Illustrator	Alan Clarke
Cover artist	Alan Clarke
Language	English
Series	Ross O'Carroll-Kelly
Genre	Comic novel, satire
Set in	Dublin, 2019-20
Published	22 August 2024, Penguin
Publication place	Republic of Ireland
Media type	Print: paperback
Pages	320
ISBN	9781844886296
Dewey Decimal	823.92
Preceded by	Camino Royale

The title refers to the song "Don't Look Back in Anger" (and possibly the nostalgic Virgin Media TV series) and the Dublin suburb of Ongar.^[3]

Release

The novel was released on 22 August 2024.^[4][5]

Plot

Ross is turning forty, and his wife Sorcha still wants a divorce, and his father is causing trouble in Áras an Uachtaráin, while his son Ronan is working for villainous lawyer Hennessy. His mother Fionnuala, who has Alzheimer's, is placed in a luxury nursing home in Ongar.^[6]

Reviews

The Irish Times described the finale as "unexpectedly touching."^[7]