Cleverly structured this book centres around five toasts and the relationships they represent. I found it dark and moody as well as poignant and emotional. A slow burner that is worth being patient with. Recommend!

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

This book had all the feels. I loved it from beginning to end. The five toasts to celebrate, remember, regret a life full of ups and downs. Maurice is a relatable character full of flaws and positives. So very human. The choices he makes through out his life are ones we have come across ourselves and that is what makes this story what it is. We see ourselves in him and in the other characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

I didn't find this 'tear-jerking' or 'heart-rending' or 'deeply moving' so much as maudlin, miserable and depressing. I especially found the ending distasteful - I'm never 100% comfortable with that particular trope as it is and I don't like it when it's figured as somehow romantic, redeeming or transcendent. For this reason I would not recommend this book.

I had high expectations of this book, having had it recommended to me.

Although it was enjoyable, I found the storytelling slow and laborious and the book dragged on a bit.

Wonderfully narrated story with a charming structure. I wanted to read each chapter with a matching drink in hand and listen to the next installment of his life. Very enjoyable and well written. Led to a good discussion at book club, too.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. It may be one for other readers, but I was unable to finish it.

A rather dark thought provoking read but a powerful story of life & love. Interesting, engaging characters encouraging a range of emotions and showing how we all can all have an effect on one another. Well written but not particularly uplifting.

A poignant, unique & charming debut!

I loved that this novel was set around raising five toasts, a very individual and intriguing way of plotting a novel.

The warmth, love, and emotion in this brilliantly crafted novel is spot on. I laughed, cried, and felt joy as we travelled with Maurice. Such a colourful character, so full of depth he will be hard to forget.

I couldn't put it down but at the same time, I didn't want it to end. Definitely, one to raise a glass to, a stunning debut - I can't wait to see what Griffin does next.

A huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton & NetGalley for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As I sit and prepare to write up a review for this book I am a little at a loss to try and find the right words to be able to do this book the justice it deserves.

The reader joins Maurice Hannigan as he sits at a bar in Ireland. Over the course of the night, he drinks 5 toasts to the 5 people who have meant the most to him in his life.

Each drink is for a special person and the story of his relationship with each of them is gradually told. It serves not only as a way of getting to know Maurice but also fills in his history from a child to the 84-year-old man he is now.

The author has done such a wonderful and poignant job of creating a character and a family and in a style that is so absorbing to a reader. It was like being led on a gentle amble through the life, love, and loss of Maurice. It was a journey through the good, the bad and all that fell in between.

This was a wonderful and easy story to read. It is so beautifully written and also emotional, I didn’t shed tears and this quite surprised me. But the story was one about a life lived.

A gentle and slower-paced story that completely wrapped me up in its covers, transported me to rural Ireland and the life of Maurice. A gorgeous and beautiful read that readers who love stories about family, family history and life over the years will thoroughly enjoy. I know I did and I would definitely recommend it.

What a beautiful, sad and interesting read. It made me smile, cry and feel like I knew this man by the end. His life story was fascinating and explained a lot about his character and how he came to be.
It was a slow but still compelling read. A real page turner and not because I wanted to know ‘who did it’ but I was so intrigued by this character. I hated the ending but if I’m honest it was fitting.

I just loved When all is said. An eighty year old man looking back on his life and trying to make amends. A real page turner that will live with me long after I start my next book.

When All is Said was a beautiful but quite sad read. Over the course of one evening in a hotel bar in a small Irish town Maurice toasts 5 important people in his life, and in doing so ‘tells’ the story of his life.

This is a quiet, slow book - not a lot happens, but there are plenty of plot twists, lots of complex characters and themes of secrecy, loyalty, family and love running through it all.

I loved it.

Loved it.......very clever story line remembering past life and loves intertwined with a story of a stolen coin. Very emotional at the end of the book.
My book club enjoyed it too. Thank you

The idea of telling a life in five toasts was very clever, it allowed the story to unravel in a way that seemed disjointed at first but that all linked up in the end, the use of alcohol also made the rambling story telling seem realistic too.
Not a book that will stay with me for long but a fun read while it lasted

If I could give this book 10 stars I would, a beautifully written story about Maurice an 84yr old man who sits alone in a hotel toasting a drink to 5 people who have made a difference in his life and tells the story of his life up until now in the bar.

Maurice's has moments of darkness and light, of love and laughter, of sadness and regret.

It’s such a powerful book and one that will resonate so deeply within you; for after all it only ends one way and we all have regrets and things we wish we could change, things we wish we said and didn’t.

It’s stunning, a masterpiece and one that will stay with me for quite some time.

Here’s to Maurice!

Interesting book. Wasn't quite sure where we were going, but ended up with tales from his past which kept me wanting to read more

Have you ever read a book where the character becomes almost real to you? Maybe they are just really well written, perhaps the character thinks so much like you it feels like the writer got in your head? Or they remind you so much of someone you feel sure the writer must have known that person? Well for me Maurice Hannigan is so like someone I knew, someone very dear but no longer with us that I instantly fell in love with this book. I spent an inordinate amount of time wiping tears off my Kindle.

This isn't a book where a massive amount happens, its a story about life and its joy and regrets. Maurice's narration is the very best of Irish storytelling - if you have ever propped up a bar with a proper Irish gentleman you'll know they can spin a tale from nothing over a whisky or two. And I wish I could be in that bar with Maurice or the lost Irish gentleman he reminded me so much of. This one will stay with me for a while.

When I began to read 'When All is Said' I thought I'd made a mistake. I'd expected a heart-warming tale and yet here was an 84 year old bloke, sitting on a barstool, getting slowly and deliberately drunk. Not my kind of novel.
But as I read on my heart truly warmed to Maurice Hannigan, with all his flaws and resentments. As he raises the five toasts which provide the stucture of Anne Griffin's debut novel, we get to see the love and kindness which he hides behind his gruff exterior. And with each of the five characters he toasts - his brother Tony, his daughter Molly, his sister-in-law Noreen, his sin Kevin and finally his wife Sadie - we share the lives and losses that have shaped his life.
A wonderful read, page-turning in the very best way.