Maurice is an 84 year old Irish man who spends the evening at a hotel bar toasting five people who have been important to him at various stages of his life.

Maurice is one of those characters you miss when a book ends. I felt I knew him as he told his story and could have read on and on for hours.

This is a beautiful and very poignant book that I read in one sitting. I sat and cried when I finished. It’s a story that will stay with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

84 year old Maurice spends an evening raising a toast to five important people he has encountered during his life. This novel was a poignant tale of a man looking back on his life and reflecting on the decisions he has made and the things he has been unable to talk about until now. I enjoyed the way that mysteries were revealed through the book, and felt that I got to know Maurice well and the life he had led.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my pre-publication copy of this novel.

You will smile and cry when reading When All Is Said. You can't help but love Maurice Hannigan the 84 year old Irish man who is telling his life story one evening through the five toasts he raises sitting in the bar of an Irish hotel.

The book is written in the form of a letter to his only son who lives in America telling him things he has never been able to say in person. Maurice's wife, Sadie, died two years before and he finds life difficult as a widower. A cantankerous farmer and solitary soul, he has risen from a poverty stricken childhood to become a prosperous man. Through his five toasts Maurice reveals the secrets he has kept and the sorrows he has suffered without being maudlin or self pitying.

Two minor things jarred for me: firstly no elderly man would use the awful American term 'from the get-go' (twice in Chapter Three: 'We'd been trying of course, from the get-go'; 'From the get-go Sadie was convinced of it' which reveals a young editor perhaps not noticing?) The second is that in order to tell the reader, Maurice 'tells' things to his son that he would have already been aware of. That's tricky and most readers wouldn't notice or care.

Ann Griffin is a wonderful Irish writer to add to my list of contemporary fiction authors. Her characterisation and sense of place are second to none and I highly recommend When All is Said for its beautiful writing. A perfect read for fans of Elizabeth Is Missing, The Thing About December and Bitter. Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton/Sceptre for the opportunity to read and review it.

Firstly I would like to thank Net Galley, the publishers, and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a free and honest review.

I loved it. It's a story set in Eire; it's about 84 year old Maurice, sitting on a bar stool reflecting on his life by thinking about five people who had made up his world. It's a very moving and sad story but so very well written and very readable. I galloped through it and even shed a tear or two in places. I was interested to see John Boyne's name included in the Acknowledgements as a supporter of Anne Griffin; he is one of my favourite modern authors and his most recent book is my top read so far in 2018. Anne Griffin is not far behind. Five solid stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this book to read in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I didn't get on too well with it. I feel like I should have done in the sense that the general genre I typically enjoy and I love Irish literature but somehow the story just didn't grab me as much as it could have done.

I do want to award it more than one star partly because the writing was very good and it's also an original story, I don't think I've come across similar before and maybe if i give it another chance at another time I might enjoy it more.

The concept of a man toasting five different people and describing their stories is a good one but parts were long-winded.

I really enjoyed this book. 84 year old Maurice Hannigan is spending the evening toasting the 5 people who have made a difference to his life. He lost his wife 2 years ago, and can't live without her. We know what he is planning to do at the end of this day, and that makes everything more poignant. This is the story of his life, warts and all. A lovely story. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Beautiful, touching and poignant, 'When All Is Said' centres on Maurice Hannigan.

Maurice spends the evening reflecting on his life, toasting five special people: his brother Tony, daughter Molly, sister-in-law Noreen, son Kevin, and his beloved wife Sadie. With each toast we learn more of Maurice's life story, his rise to riches, and the feud with the neighbouring landlords, the Dollards.

At turns heartwarming and sad, this is written so beautifully, you can hear the strong Irish lilt of the narrative at all times. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. It is all about Maurice and his life. As the reader I was able to relate to the story. I throughly enjoyed reading this.
I had a eARC of this from both NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton in exchange for my review

Gruff old Irish farmer, widowed for a couple of years, contemplates his life, its highs and lows, the people he loves and has loved, events that have shaped his and others’ lives, and it makes for an absorbing read. Regrets? He has a few and thinks about trying to put things right where he can. I enjoyed this story and came to care about the characters very much indeed, especially Maurice himself who is self-aware but not self-pitying, and is really just a wise old man, content with his lot but bereft of the love of his life. It is emotionally engaging without being overly sentimental and I find that unusual these days. Superb writing in that beautiful Irish way I admire so much.

This review seems a little thin but I’d hate to give anything away and urge you to immerse yourself in Maurice’s story. I can’t fault this book and would recommend it without hesitation.

This is a gem of a book. I laughed and I cried my way through it. The story of Maurice's life is beautifully told. I could imagine him sitting in the bar of the hotel. I could imagine his surroundings and I could almost taste the whiskey. I have been in hotels like this in Ireland and I could visualise this one. There has been so much love in his life and so much sadness. His story is simply and beautifully told. This book will stay with me for a long time and I will definitely be raving about it for a long time as well.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the story of Maurice Hannigan's life, told when he is an old man, through the people he remembers as he drinks five toasts to them in the bar of the local hotel which has played a big part in his life. It is poignant and compelling and in the style of the most accomplished Irish writers. Anne Griffin says she has had advice and support from her friend, John Boyne, who is a favourite author of mine. I believe this is her debut book. I hope she writes another one with the depth and truth that this one has.

I loved this book - once I had started hearing about Maurice’s life I wanted to keep reading. Heartwarming, poignant and life affirming. A joy to read.

Beautifully written you fully appreciate the highs and lows of his life as he toasts the five people who had such an impact on him. I soon realised what the ending would be but wanted to journey with him.

This storey is a memoir of the main characters life. He is explaining to his son, how, why and when things happened and there impact on his life and others around him. He is setting things right before it is time for him to die. I really enjoyed it, it has mystery, love and life...

My thanks to Sceptre and Netgalley for the copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
A point to note; I do not do spoilers or dwell on the plot and story. If you want these I suggest you read the publisher's blurb and other reviews - my interest is in the author and her/his craft.
Well, pull up your chair closer to the fire - prepare to read the book in one session. This is literature, this took me back to my youth when I was first discovering the pleasures of reading. Anne Griffin is a talent she has honed her craft a winner all the way to the line, for a debut it is a wonder.
I cannot recommend this volume enough. Buy it and treasure is - you will not regret it. Bring on the next novel.

Totally totally magnificent. I don’t think a book has provided me such an emotional punch since I read Five People. Maurice’s voice is so convincing and the raw honesty leaves you breathless.

This beautiful novel will undoubtedly appear in the end of year reviews as one of the Books of the Year, so read it first. You won't be able to put it down and then it will live with you for a long time afterwards.
A stream-of-consciousness narrative, told by an 84 year old farmer, with typical Irish warmth and humour, in a one-sided conversation with his absent son. Maurice Hannigan's history is told in the form of five toasts to key figures in his life. His whole life had been affected by undiagnosed dyslexia, leaving everyone, including himself to believe him to be 'thick', but with great tenacity he has risen in prosperity as the Dollards, the hated squirearchy, fall.
Not an emotionally articulate man, Hannigan re-evaluates choices he made and so much of the time I was reading I kept hearing Frank Sinatra singing "Regrets, I've had a few ...I've loved, I've laughed and cried...I've had my fill, my share of losing...And now,… the end is near...And so I face the final curtain..." Hannigan's regrets are suffused with love for Sadie and for Kevin, love he had found it difficult to express.
Even though you think you will know how it will end, you can't put it down. It will finally leave you with a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Anne Griffin writes from the heart in the voice of an unforgettable Irishman. It will make a wonderful film!

A story mainly told in the narrative, with little dialogue. Maurice Hannigan, an old man reminiscing about his life and events which he went through that shaped his life, and made him the man he became. A man of his time!
Not the type of book that I would usually choose to read, but almost from the beginning I became completely immersed in Hannigan’s story, his family, relationships, experiences at school, and the harsh, challenging land which he worked so hard on.
Hannigan has always been a strong character, though at certain points in his life has come close to breaking. The story completely draws you in with the author’s skillful, emotive writing. One minute you like this tough, strong character who has suffered hardship and cruelty, then at times, you think he has been too harsh.
A complex character! But there is also subtle humour in the story. One minute you are feeling deep empathy for this likeable character, then laughing out loud at some of the events that Maurice is recalling. The chapter about Norissa, (his wife’s sister), is particularly amusing. I recommend this wonderful story, and would love to read other books by this author.

In Anne Griffin's debut novel Maurice Hannigan, an elderly farmer from County Meath sits in a hotel bar and looks back on his life. He's seen Ireland change around him and his own fortunes steadily rise while those of the Dollards, the family on whose grand estate he worked as a boy, have declined in inverse proportion.

As the country has grown from agricultural backwater to Celtic Tiger and then slumped back to the reality of post-financial crisis Europe, Maurice, clever at business but not always emotionally articulate, has been left stranded, first by the emigration of his son and then by the death of his wife.

The outstanding thing about this novel is the voice. Cynical and sentimental

funny and poignant Maurice Hannigan's lyrical vernacular is the voice of a generation of Irishmen that is passing away.

This book reminded me a bit of The Five People You Meet in Heaven.
Maurice is looking back on his life while he’s sat at a bar. I enjoyed each chapter dedicated to a different person and learning about his life as he grew up. The ending was expected but it was an nice book to read, and I connected well with the characters.

.75 stars

Ahhh... this was lovely.... considering it was fairly obvious to me all along where it was heading.
It's quite something to reflect back on your life,choose 5 people who were big parts of it...and so tell your life story through theirs.
I felt a positivity running through this book,there was a lot of love shared,and it was all rather heart warming.. even to an old cynic lime me.
Didn't quite make me cry... but a bit more and I might have.