Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.
‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears.’ John Boyne
‘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.
Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.
(P) 2019 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears.’ John Boyne
‘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.
Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.
(P) 2019 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
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Reviews
A heart-warming, heart-breaking and poignant debut of rare power.
A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.
An ingenious narrative
Anne Griffin's debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling - stunning!
Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, and a character you love from the off.
In the twilight of his long and eventful life, Irishman Maurice Hannigan still possesses the deep and mellow voice that his grandmother once told him 'could melt icebergs-a voice that debut author Anne Griffin renders with wit, verve, and endearing irascibility. When All Is Said captures the texture of a night catching up with an old friend--the pleasures and comforts, the stories and surprises-one that you never want to end, and all the more bittersweet because you know, of course, that it must.
Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. Anne Griffin has fashioned a rare jewel.
Maurice Hannigan is one of those rare and unforgettable characters whose lives we enter, inhabit for a time all too brief, and emerge from deeply changed. Anne Griffin is a writer with a bright, bright future.
There is something special here . . . The next big name to emerge from the Irish writing scene.
This is how you tell a story
A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.
Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. Anne Griffin has fashioned a rare jewel.
Anne Griffin's debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling - stunning!
This is how you tell a story
Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, and a character you love from the off.
Griffin is a magical storyteller whose prose is effortless and clear. She conjures an intimate, poignant and ultimately enthralling portrait of a man who has battled loneliness and other demons throughout his life. Maurice is superbly well-realised: a character who tries to make amends and, in so doing, cracked my heart.
When All Is Said tells the tale of an imperfect man who you will not be able to forget.
A warm and wise treasure of a book with a character whose voice draws you in from the start
[Anne Griffin] builds a remarkably rich sense of place, while also tracing the wider changes affecting Ireland. ...Maurice is a lovingly rendered example of the current vogue for characters who have fallen through the cracks
A book to savour, and pass on. An absolute joy
Griffin's strength is in voice and in the rhythm of her prose ... She is excellent at interrogating the complexity of Maurice's barriers
[An] impressively confident debut ... Maurice Hannigan emerges as an engaging, compassionate creation
This could be one of the big book hits of 2019
Poetic and touching without being sentimental, When All Is Said by Anne Griffin is something special.
A powerful page-turner ... wonderfully poetic, atmospheric and moving.
A warm and nourishing story from a writer of much promise.
Griffin's debut is a beautiful and poignant page-turner.
A heart-warming, heart-breaking and poignant debut of rare power.
A fine literary debut from a writer I'm sure we'll hear more from
An emotional yet uplifting novel - we defy you not to fall in love with Maurice Hannigan and his heart-warming story.
Superb ... incredibly moving without ever straying into sentiment
When All Is Said captures the texture of a night catching up with an old friend - the pleasures and comforts, the stories and surprises - one that you never want to end, and all the more bittersweet because you know, of course, that it must.
Maurice Hannigan is one of those rare and unforgettable characters whose lives we enter, inhabit for a time all too brief, and emerge from deeply changed. Anne Griffin is a writer with a bright, bright future.
Pitch-perfect prose ... Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut.
It's all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book
A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful
A beautifully written, perfectly paced, heartfelt novel
An atmospheric debut ... The most impressive aspects of this first novel are its rich, flowing prose, its convincing voice and its imaginative and clever structure ... Griffin is a welcome arrival to the literary scene
A heartfelt and impressive debut novel
Beautifully written, this is a feast of Irish storytelling
Achingly poignant and wryly funny, Irish author Anne Griffin's luminous debut is a celebration of stolen joy and lost opportunities
A rich, fluid debut novel
Will stay with you long after you close the cover
As candid a portrait of human frailty as you're likely to find. Griffin is uncannily accurate in her depiction of that peculiarly Irish emotional paralysis we're all familiar with.
A rich and moving story, a poetic voice and unforgettable character in Maurice
[Maurice's] story will make you laugh and cry - When All Is Said is a wonderful debut novel from Anne Griffin. She says she "wanted to write a damn good story". She has succeeded beyond her dreams.
Tissues at the ready for what is a confident yet carefully written debut . . . I adored it. Utterly recommended.
Griffin's stunning debut, brimming with irresistible Irish-isms, is an elegy to love, loss and the complexity of life.
An accomplished debut. A sensitive layered description of grief and regret . . . excellent
Beautifully realized
Taken Ireland by storm . . . Immediate, often funny, sometimes dark and, on occasion, devastatingly sad.
A portrait of a life in which revenge, love, loss, and misunderstanding all play their part . . . This is a wonderful piece of story-telling that is intimate, compassionate and extraordinarily assured.
Anne Griffin's first novel has taken Ireland by storm . . . Immediate, often funny, sometimes dark and, on occasion, devastatingly sad.
Nearly 40 years of publishing has made me a cynical reviewer of books, but, oh my god, it's impossible to be churlish about discovering such a fabulous and unforgettable character. A one-hit wonder this is not
A gentle tale of an irascible Irish farmer, who spends the last day of his life toasting the five people who have meant the most to him- sure to move even the stoniest of hearts
It was a masterstroke to get one of the greatest living Irish character actors (and there's stiff competition) to voice Maurice Hannigan ... Better than on the page.