- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre (24 Jan. 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1473682991
- ISBN-13: 978-1473682993
Synopsis
‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’
At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.
Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories – of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice – the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.
Review
When All Is Said is Anne Griffin’s debut novel. This is gorgeous book that will pull at your heartstrings and should come with a box of tissues; you have been warned. This is a character driven novel and focuses on Maurice who is eighty four and sitting the bar of The Rainford House Hotel. During the evening he makes five toasts, with either stout or whisky, to five people who have been important in his life. Written in the first person narrative, Maurice addresses his toasts, and the reminisces of his life to his only son Kevin, who lives in America.
When All Is Said is a beautiful book about life and death, love and loss, success and failure and hopes and dreams. As Maurice recounts his memories, the first person narrative has the effect of bringing the reader into his life, being part of the good and the bad that life dealt him. What really came through for me, and tugged at my heartstrings, was his sense of loneliness and isolation after the death of his wife, with no other family around and not wanting to be a burden to his son.
Anne Griffin has a brilliant understanding of the the human psyche and is able to bring out the emotion of this book and make it feel personal and heartfelt. The prose is lyrical as it takes the reader on a journey through Ireland’s history, as well as Maurice’s history, with wonderful attention to detail. This is not a hurried tale, Anne Griffin gives Maurice time to tell his tale and contemplate on what his life has been. There are many laugh out loud moments as Maurice is no saint, in particular with his revenge on the Dollard family, his enemies since he was ten years old.
When All Is Said is simply a beautiful, poignant and reflective read on one man’s life. Anne Griffin uses words to paint an intimate portrait of Maurice, that shows the good and the bad and the highs and the lows. By the end of the book I was reading with tears rolling down my cheeks, and almost wanted to put the book down and remain in ignorance, but I’m glad I didn’t. This is a truly remarkable read and one I highly recommend.
I would like to thank Hodder and Stoughton for my copy of this book to review via NetGalley. I hope you enjoyed my review and would be very grateful if you could like and share over social media so I can keep growing.
And this is an funding risk value taking.