"When All is Said" by Anne Griffin

 

In When All is Said, wealthy Irish agriculturist and landowner Maurice Hannigan addresses his son in a book-length apostrophe, reviewing the loves, losses, and eventual victories of his long life. As he hoists a few in the bar at the posh hotel of which he is part owner, he starts his long address, in which he intends—and mostly accomplishes—a full accounting of his fraught, complicated life. Debut author Anne Griffin has filled her tale with with relatable, lovable characters, and she delivers her saga in a delightful Irish lilt. The novel is full of weighty issues, but is impressively assured, an intriguing promise of delights to come.

In his imagination, Maurice, our hero/narrator, regales his son (now a respected journalist living in New Jersey) with background color for the events of his long life. As he does so, he illustrates his worth multiple times over, first as a schoolboy struggling with a learning disability, then as a very successful farmer and loving husband and father. Much of the plot springs from a single incident from his boyhood, at a time when he is berated and beaten by the local lord of the manor into whose service he’d been placed.

The characters are uniformly well nuanced, each with their peccadilloes, bright ambitions, ability, and honor. And ability to love. We follow his long inner dialogue as he reflects on his challenging childhood and subsequent life, which as been deeply affected by the pivotal incident, as are the lives of his family and that of the Dollards, former prominent local clan and onetime owners of the establishment.

Take up When All is Said and welcome Anne Griffin into distinguished company, an honor she richly deserves.