When All is Said
The Number One Irish Bestseller
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4.5 • 112 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
THE NUMBER ONE IRISH BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
'A rare jewel' John Banville
'A genuine page-turner' Donal Ryan
'This is how you tell a story' Cecelia Ahern
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.
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 powerfully and poignantly be laid bare.
'A book to savour and pass on. An absolute joy' Sunday Mirror
'A rich and moving story, a poetic voice and unforgettable character in Maurice' Elle
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Settle in for an entertaining and moving night’s drinking. In this enthralling debut novel, 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan is sat at an Irish hotel bar with five drinks lined up, preparing to toast the five most important people in his life. These cleverly constructed toasts end up telling Maurice’s own life story—one of sadness, joy and deep secrets. Despite his flaws, Maurice is a beautifully written and sympathetic character. We were delighted to join him in raising a glass or five.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Griffin's satisfactory debut takes place during one night in June 2014, at a hotel bar in a small Irish city. Talkative Maurice Hannigan, 84, has settled down for a long night of drinking, with each of his drinks raised to some absent loved one: his older brother, a stillborn daughter, his disturbed sister-in-law, his deceased wife, and his son, Kevin, who has moved to America to work and raise a family. Addressing that son in his mind throughout the novel, Maurice ranges back and forth through a life that began in poverty and ended with his buying up much of the county. Key to the story are Maurice's impulsive pocketing of a rare coin when he was a boy working in the manor that has now become the hotel where he is drinking, and the conflicts between Maurice's struggling family and the wealthy one that used to control life in their county. While the plot hinges heavily on coincidence, and the device of addressing an absent son feels extraneous, Maurice is a likable and complex character with a voice that readers will be drawn to. Maurice's humor, his keen observations on class and family, and his colloquial language, as well as Griffin's strong sense of place, create the feeling of a life connected to many others by strands of affection and hatred.
Customer Reviews
Beautiful Simplicity
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel. Both heart warming and deeply emotional, it is an honest tale of a life lived simply. I would strongly recommend reading this book no matter what your usual genre may be.
When all is said and done - Patsy’s review
I really loved this book and cried my eyes out at the end. Maurice’s narrative was so poignant and exquisitely described, painting situations, pictures and people with such clarity that you felt you were there, in the corner of the room observing all the while and feeling the emotions. I sincerely hope that he finds Sadie waiting for him. Cambridge Book Group Dec 2019
When all is said
Wonderful! Honest, funny, sad and heartening all at once. The ‘Irishness’ of the language used brought it to life & I can easily imagine this story being made in to a film. The characters were so vivid. A gorgeous story.