I loved this book! It is beautiful and I've already been recommending it widely! I'm hoping to get my book club to read so we can discuss!

Rating 4.5 Stars!

I thought I had heard of this author before when I saw When All Is Said by Anne Griffin available on NetGalley so I requested the opportunity to review the book and was approved. Then later, I entered a Goodreads Giveaway for this book with the same mindset and won a copy so I was super excited.  By the time the book arrived, I realized I must have been thinking of an author with a similar last name after all, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading.

Now onto the story.......  84-year-old Maurice Hannigan takes a seat at the Rainford House Hotel in a small Irish town. Earlier, he had booked himself an exclusive suite at the hotel and tidied up his affairs before doing so.

Before the night is over, he will toast five people who made an impact in his life. During his toasts to each person, Maurice tells his life story -- the good, the bad and the ugly in some cases.  As you can guess, the story is told in five parts - one for each person in his life who had a big impact on Maurice. The five people he toasts are his brother, Tony, his daughter, Molly, his daughter, Noreen (aka Auntie No-No), his son, Kevin, a journalist who emigrated to New Jersey, and most importantly, his wife, Sadie.  

Maurice rambles a bit as he shares his stories -- he sometimes leaves a story unfinished and chases a rabbit or two, but it makes his story-telling more realistic.  At the end of the story, Maurice has pretty much filled in all the blanks of his life and while the ending of the book is pretty obvious from the beginning, it didn't make it any easier when it came for me. 

The story is beautiful and moving. In reflection, I am beginning to wonder who my five people would be.  If you are anything like me, you will need to have some tissues ready for this book, and block out a day or two, because you'll want to read it cover to cover!

I received an advanced readers digital copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also won a hardcover copy through a Goodreads Giveaway.  I was not required to provide a positive review in either event.

Well, I can certainly see why this is one of the most anticipated books of 2019. It has a quiet, understated beauty to it that captures your heart right from the beginning; I knew pretty early on this was going to be an emotive experience, and I wasn't wrong. It doesn't shout its message, it merely whispers it, but it's all the more powerful because of that. This is a profound, moving and bittersweet story, and main character Maurice is a loveable, lonely guy of a certain age who is reminiscing about his life and loved ones, all of whom left him long ago. The minor characters are all shown through the eyes of Maury which was an interesting concept in itself. There are some real tearjerker moments but also some which never fail to make you laugh-out-loud.

Griffin writes in such a way that it is virtually impossible to not be enamoured with her poignant story. Essentially this is a sad tale, but the author manages to perfectly balance the light and shade to keep the narrative from becoming too unbalanced. The beautiful, inspirational message within the pages tells us to forgive others and, most importantly, forgive ourselves; we, as humans, are not infallible, so being able to forgive is an integral part of living. This is an unforgettable debut that is well worth picking up, especially for fans of John Boyne, as this reminded me very much of his emotionally-charged plots. I look forward to reading more from Griffin in, hopefully, the not too distant future.

Many thanks to Thomas Dunne Books for an ARC.

Maury is an old man who has lost most of the people he holds dear. So he makes arrangements and then spends an evening in the local bar toasting the five people who were most dear to him. Sounds corny, right? It wasn't! Ms. Griffin took this outline and used it to create what I came to feel was similar to the drama found in a Bronte story! There was love, theft, abuse, class elitism, downfall, etc. Maury's life had it all and Ms. Griffin wrote in a way that made you get to know the people in Maury's life, even if you only saw them through his eyes. This was a thoroughly enjoyable, bittersweet book.

Maurice is 84 and he's thought a lot about his life lately. He opts to check into the Rainford House Hotel and order drinks, five of them, one after the other, and give toasts to the five most important people in his life. This is an interesting way to tell a man's story. It's all from his perspective, of course, but he's had time to reflect on where things went crooked and where they were good. There's some real sadness here but there's also some laughs. You might guess how this ends but I didn't. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read and an impressive debut.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas Dunne Books, and Anne Griffin for the opportunity to read this amazing debut book - 5 glowing stars for a book I won't soon forget.

Maurice Hannigan is alone at a hotel bar. There he drinks a special toast to the 5 most important people in his life: his brother, his wife, his daughter and son, and his sister-in-law. As he drinks to these people, he looks back on his life and we learn his story. And what a story. Maurice now more clearly sees his life in perspective as he reflects and sees how his actions trickled down into others' lives; how others viewed and treated him and how he thought of himself, changed who he was and how he behaved.

I couldn't put this book down - the writing and the way this story is told is so special. I cried even though I knew the ending. The characters were wonderful and there was enough lightness in the story so as not to become too sad.

Highly recommended - a fabulous book club pick because there is so much to talk about here. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Dunne Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was fantastic. We are introduced to 84 year old Maurice Hannigan who is toasting the 5 most important people in his life.
His Brother
his daughter
Auntie No-no
His Son
and of course his wife.

Set in a irish bar, we talk a walk through Maurice's life with him as he reminisces and hows us why he is toasting to each on of these people. Some of them are for obvisous reasons, while others were more out of the small moments. Those moment that we take for granted are sometimes the most important moments where we may not realize the impact we are leaving on someone.
The last time I fell in love with a character was Ove from a Man Called Ove, the same emotion I felt toward Ove is how I felt toward Maurice. I didn't want the book to end. I wanted him to stay
I loved the message of the book, and most importantly I love the impact Maurice had on me (I'm still in denial that he is not a real person!) This is a must read!

What a grand Irish tale and well done debut! I truly wanted to start at the beginning and read it again!

Encouraged....Supported....and I'm betting Inspired by John Boyne, Anne Griffin has given me my first SUPER FAVORITE of 2019.

LETS START WITH......The home....nursing home, that is...."What poor widow or widower living alone out there hasn't dreaded its arrival."

NEXT.....meet Mr. Maurice Hannigan nicknamed "Big Man" by his beloved older brother, and get ready to travel through his tumultuous life from childhood to aging adult while he sits at a local hotel bar...alone...in a small Irish town ready to remember and toast the lives of five special people in his life.

WHILE HE SHARES.....his memories, we meet family and friends....including Gearstick the dog, experience good times and tough times....grief and regrets. We even discover a few characters who aren't what we first thought them to be.

Wonderfully told and memorable. Loved it!

***Arc provided by St. Martin's Press and Thomas Dunne books via NetGalley in exchange for review***

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. We meet Maurice Hannigan as he sits at a bar in Ireland toasting the five people who meant the most to him in his life. At 84 years old Maurice has lived quite a full life. We learn of his boyhood, marriage, becoming a father, and finally a widower. He presents himself to the world as a cranky guy, but really he's softhearted and doesn't know how to express his emotions. This book started a little slow for me, but once the toasts began with Maurice's excellent storytelling I was hooked. Overall, Maurice's story is about love and forgiveness, not only loving and forgiving others, but also yourself.

Clever storytelling at its’ best. 84-year old Maurice Hannigan is sitting at a familiar hotel bar making a final toast to 5 familial people. He reminisces and integrates theses influential people who made an impact through different stages of his life. His recollections are so well done, I can feel his emotions, especially related to beloved wife Sadie - achingly beautiful.

Maurice has lived a full and interesting life. His insightful perspective is well-imagined by the author and put into beautifully written words. I especially loved the mystery surrounding a seemingly insignificant coin that is impulsively stolen by a younger Maurice, what it means and how it impacts lives over the years.

A moving and refreshing story by debut author Anne Griffin.

*will post in online venues upon publication and come back with link to review. Memorable story!

A sweeping multi-generational saga borne from love, loss, grief, forgiveness and ultimately peace. A beautiful tell of an elderly man, Maurice Hannigan as he toasts five people while contemplating his life.
Gorgeous! I laughed. I winced. I smiled. I cried.

Please see my full Review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2723335911
Or my blog: https://authentikatebooks.site123.me

This was a moving and very quick read about a widower of two years who desperately misses his wife Sadie. The story takes place in Dublin, Ireland. Maurice Hannigan is 84 years old. As he sits at the bar of a local hotel nursing one of many whiskeys, he's toasting, reminiscing, and sometimes making amends with important people in his life. It's as if he's narrating his whole life (in his mind) to his adult son Kevin, who is a journalist living in the United States.

I most enjoyed Maurice's recounting of his childhood. He lived on a small farm with his family where he idolized his older brother Tony. In fact, when asked as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up, he honestly and innocently answered, "Tony." He was looking forward to going to school but soon realized he had learning difficulties. Tony was very encouraging and supportive, and even when he himself graduated from school would take the time out to walk Maurice to school in the morning. It soon became evident that further schooling was futile and at a certain point the school master told Maurice's parents that he should abandon school and work on the farm. He also worked with his mother at the Dollard house, which figured hugely in his life. His mother used to work there early in the morning baking bread and also fancy pastries (if there was special company). Mr. Dollard was an alcoholic and extremely abusive towards his son Thomas. Thomas in turn would inflict his rage upon Maurice, when he could be found in close range. In fact, he left a scar on Maurice's face, but Maurice left an even bigger impression on Thomas in the end. In fact, Maurice would find himself in a love and hate relationship with the Dollard house, which later transformed into a hotel and bar.

Even though Maurice struggled with school work, he found other means of becoming successful in life. He was a savvy deal maker and bought up many tracts of farm land in Dublin. However, two years into losing his beloved wife Sadie, he has liquidated everything and booked himself for a night in the honeymoon suite of the Dollard hotel. As Maurice reflects upon all the critical moments in his life, it's a very interesting and poignant journey with a tragic conclusion.

Five toasts for the five most important people in your life.  Who would you pick?  What will you say, when you can finally say everything?  Maurice is all set- he knows his five people, and everything he wants to say.  Sitting alone at a bar, raising a glass to those that influenced his life most deeply, saying everything he never knew how to put into words.... and learning more about himself in the process.

        This is a slow meander through the decades- a lifetime of memories.  Highlights and regrets with no rosy filter and no more need of recriminations.  
 Dear God, how I loved this book.  I loved sitting with our narrator as he went through the things he's done in his life.  The pain, joy.... memories.  This is a gorgeously written novel- I still can't believe it's Griffin's debut (you can bet your ass I will be looking for more from her).  The premise grabbed me immediately.  We've all knows a Maurice, haven't we?  The taciturn gentleman/woman who shields her emotions and praise.  You never really know where you stand with them, how to make a connection.  But still waters run deep, and you just want to know everything they think or feel, though you know they'll never put it into words.  For me, that was my Grandfather Grover, my step mother's father.  A man of few words and fewer hugs or praise.  You knew you were loved, but he had trouble connecting in that way.  Reserved... better with land than people.  That's Maurice, and I think that's also why I immediately felt an affinity for him.

        The writing style here was gorgeous, and I loved the gentle lilt of our narrator.  Plodding along, never rushing.  I absolutely loved this.  It's not a quick read, mind, and it will break your heart in parts.... but it's deep and beautiful.  I was mesmerized.  For me, this was a five star book.

       On the adult content scale, there's obviously a large amount of drinking, some language and violence.  Nothing over the top- I would give it a three.

     I was lucky enough to receive an eARC from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.  My thanks!

This book is about an 84 year old remembering his life in Ireland. It's divided into five parts, each part dedicated to someone that mattered and moulded him into the person he becomes. It was interesting to read something seen through the eyes of someone that is so different from me but at the same time, each chapter felt like we were having a conversation. It was the most intimist book I ever read. It goes all the way from his childhood in poor, rural Ireland to his last years when he is faced with widowhood and loneliness lightly covering all the problems Ireland faced and preferring to focus on what was happening in his life in consequence of that. One of the things I like the most was how him being a man of his time made a difference, the way he interacted with others and refused to share his thoughts and feelings mainly. The entire book is intrinsically Irish, from the vocabulary to the way the main character behaves and acts. Everyone that is Irish or has Irish friends will be able to recognize their humour in this. One way or another this book will make you feel something.

Maurice sits at the bar and toasts five of the most influential people who he holds closest to his heart. A toast to his brother Tony, to his daughter Molly, to his sister-in-law Noreen, to his son Kevin and finally a toast to his beloved wife, Sadie. As you read through Maurice's toasts to each person, you begin to understand why he chooses the drinks he does. Anne Griffin methodically reveals bits and pieces of his life and soon, you realize what bar he is sitting in and how each person he celebrates relates to one another.

The beginning was a little slow for me and I went into this book thinking that it would be told by a narrator, but as I read on I was happily surprised that it translates as if Maurice is writing a letter to his son, Kevin, which give it almost a poetic feel. The writing is simply beautiful and effortless while being emotional and significant. Once I got further into the book, I was able to appreciate the logic as to why it began the way it did.

Overall I was really impressed with this book and it definitely evoked some emotion.

(I was provided a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

I struggled with the first few pages of this book - it felt like the random ramblings of an old Irish man and I wasn't sure where the story was going to go. However, by chapter 2 I was committed to the story and beginning to enjoy our main character. I thought this was well-written, touching and endearing. It is the story of love, family, and how our choices can impact others. I can't wait to read more from Mrs. Anne Griffin.

"There was a love but of the Irish kind, reserved and embarrassed by its own humanity."

Thank you, Thomas Dunne Books and NetGalley!

When All Is Said tells the life story of Maurice Hannigan. Now an elderly man, he sits alone in the bar of the Rainford House Hotel. Over the course of one evening, he raises toasts to five different people as he recounts the story of his life up until that moment. Like all lives, Maurice's has moments of pure happiness, moments of darkness and misery, mistakes made and things left unsaid. I think perhaps the quiet strength of this book - and the saddest thing about it - comes from knowing deep down that there's really only one way it can end.

Past tense, decade-spanning family stories are totally my thing. This one was no exception. I got a very strong John Boyne The Heart's Invisible Furies vibe reading this, and it came as no surprise when Griffin thanked him in the acknowledgements at the end. There's also a touch of A Man Called Ove in here, too.

Griffin takes us from the old-fashioned Ireland of the past to the present. We revisit Maurice's childhood and see how he struggled at school because of his dyslexia, and, of course, had no one to give him guidance on it. In those times, his only option was to turn to work on the farm, which resulted in him working under an abusive employer. Later, we see him fall in love and marry, and have kids, but all this is told through the five toasts; all relating back to the one person at the centre of that chapter.

It's a very effective kind of storytelling. The old man's view, combined with the past tense, makes for a very nostalgic tale, tinged with bittersweetness from start to finish. Many sad things happen but for me it was saved from being too maudlin by Maurice's fire, love, and grumpy sense of humour. It is amusing to hear this old-fashioned guy recount a visit to a fertility doctor and bemoan the discussions of "'Rhythm' fecking this and 'cycle' fecking that".

Another strength of the story, I feel, comes from the exploration of how the same thing can look quite different in hindsight, not just for Maurice, but for humanity as a whole. In Maurice's case, minor acts of revenge turned out bigger than he'd ever anticipated, and he also saw his wife's actions in a new light as he aged. For humanity, someone who was written off as "stupid" is now recognized as having a learning disorder that can be helped; mental illness, too, is now better understood.

A beautiful, sad, funny book, made all the more interesting because many of the characters, especially Maurice, are difficult, or selfish, or grumpy, but we still come to love them. It broke my heart.

”A room is a still a room, even when there's nothin' there but gloom
But a room is not a house and a house is not a home
When the two of us are far apart
And one of us has a broken heart”
--A House is Not a Home, Luther Vandross, Songwriters: Burt Bacharach / Hal David

Maurice Hannigan has lived eighty-four years as this story begins, sitting at the bar of the Rainsford House Hotel, Co. Meath, Ireland. He’s there to raise a toast to five people, all members of his family, in this place that has been a part of his life since he can remember.

A trip down memory lane ensues, and you begin to piece the stories of his life together through these toasts as he wanders through these memories with each character from his past, all gone from his life with the exception of his son, who now lives in America working as a journalist. While these stories have an air of sentimentality to them, it is filtered through both humour and his truth about the life he has lived there, in the shadow of this now-hotel, formerly the home of his former employer, and the employer of his family members, as well.

Maurice is a flawed individual, as we all are, burdened by his many regrets that he has managed to accrue through his years. One toast, one memory devoted to one person at a time, he expresses his love for each, his wish that he had done a better job, perhaps of expressing that love, perhaps, but seeking forgiveness for his faults.

There is a reclusive edge to this man, which becomes apparent as he relays his story through these toasts to those people who continue to live on in his heart. Through his stories it is soon apparent that he has lived his life guarding his heart, showing his love in the only ways he’d been shown love – “the Irish kind, reserved and embarrassed by its own humanity.” Perhaps his biggest regret, that he had not shared his love in a way that showed his love for these people, who were so special to him, so as he toasts them he shares his love for them, at last.

When I read about this book, it brought to mind a book that I had read three years ago and loved by Roger Rosenblatt, ’Thomas Murphy,’ another Irishman, and there is a bit of the charm that Thomas Murphy had about him in Maurice, both reminiscence on loss, love, life, death, aging and love. Having read this now, Maurice has lived a very different life than Thomas Murphy, which has given him a different view of life, perhaps, but it’s the love and tattered charm of both that kept me smiling through the tears.



Pub Date: 05 Mar 2019


Many thanks for the ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press / Thomas Dunne Books

I didn't finish this one. I can't deny the author's talent for telling a story. Before I put this one down, I was able to recognize her exceptional writing. However, this book just isn't for me. At least, not right now. Maybe I will pick it back up later on. I just wasn't into the story itself.

“Five toasts, five people, five memories”.

Maurice Hannigan is 84 years old... sitting in the bar of the Rainsford Hotel in Ireland on a Saturday night in June. The hotel is part of Maurice’s history and his memories.
He planned his Saturday night.....had a clear purpose.....
a toast to his brother, daughter, son, sister-in-law, and wife ( who died two years ago).

I love the idea and significance of this book.
Maurice may have picked only 5 people to toast who have shaped his life but he also includes sharing about his mother - his father - his uncle - friends - and opponents.
We get a lifetime worth of stories - stories of a full life....
highlights - happiness - struggles - guilt - sadness - business - growing up a poor farmer kid to a financially success adult - love - loss - marriage - children - failures - grief - grudges - disappointments- insecurities - regrets - dyslexia - a story about a gold coin - death - illness - acknowledgments- forgiveness - and a lot of reflecting.

Emotions bubble and elevate as we come to the end. This really is a beautiful poignant book....
With age comes wisdom —
Society tells us what to think and what to believe but Maurice simply gave us truth!!!

WONDERFUL BOOK!!!

Thank You Saint Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and