When All Is Said, by Anne Griffin
5/60 | Started 01.16.23 • Finished 01.30.23 | 3.5 stars
I was intrigued by the premise of this book: a man giving five toasts to five people he's known over the course of his lifetime. It becomes apparent early on that there's something else going on - or at least it did to me - but I won't tell you what it is. As he raises his glass to the five people, the reader comes to learn about his life, how he grew up, how he ended up where he is, why he's making these five toasts.
No one, no one really knows loss until it's someone you love. The deep-down kind of love that holds on to your bones and digs itself right in under your fingernails, as hard to budge as the years of compacted earth.
I liked exploring the life and times of the main character, Maurice Hannigan. Through a much-beloved brother, a sister-in-law with whom he had a special relationship, a daughter he never knew, a grown son, and a dear wife, we discover Maurice's highs and lows, secrets and stories, pleasures and pains. I loved the Irish setting. I wasn't too keen on the ending, hence the lower rating, though I did round up on Goodreads. An enjoyable read.
But her story is like the wind under the front door, whistling its way through the crevices, getting through the cracks in my skin.
Comments