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jgsearls's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely book. An elderly gentleman toasting to various people in his life over the course of an evening. I really enjoyed each chapter - which covered a different toast.
bookishgeordie's review against another edition
5.0
A beautifully written, heartbreakingly sad novel. A must read.
schray32's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this Irish story of a man’s life with the many regrets he has along the way and all of the lovely and horrible relationships that come in and out of his life.
The characters and relationship with his brother Tony and daughter Molly are wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I love that they stay in his life.
I am literally weeping finishing this. Extreme sadness is not a bad quality. I am choosing to honor choices of the character despite my own personal views. Read this so we can discuss.
Cheers to Maurice Hannigan!
The characters and relationship with his brother Tony and daughter Molly are wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I love that they stay in his life.
I am literally weeping finishing this. Extreme sadness is not a bad quality. I am choosing to honor choices of the character despite my own personal views. Read this so we can discuss.
Cheers to Maurice Hannigan!
marilynw's review against another edition
4.0
***Trigger warning at end of post***
Eighty four year old Maurice Hannigan is ready to say goodbye. All his affairs are in order, property sold, dog given to new owners, money in various accounts for various people, things given away, boxes packed with names of who gets the contents, everything done and sorted so he can enter a nursing home the next day. At least that is where he tells those in the know, that he is going.
There are five people whose memories he want to toast first though. One of the most poignant is the toast to his late brother. The love between Maurice and his older brother Tony, was something most people could only hope to have. Five years older than Maurice, Tony let Maurice know he would always be there to protect Maurice. Maybe reading wasn't Maurice's thing but Tony knew that Maurice would win in life, doing other things just as big or bigger than reading. When people asked Maurice what he wanted to be when he grew up, Maurice said he wanted to be Tony...it was as simple as that, nothing was better than Tony.
The last person Maurice toasted to was his late wife, Sadie, who had died two years earlier. It's Sadie's death that has broken Maurice's heart and spirit and his depression is a bottomless pit. Maurice was always faithful to Sadie, never wanted another woman, but he knows he let her down in ways that he knew he was doing at the time. Stubbornness was always strong in Maurice, he was a stubborn man, set in his ways, always after money even after he had more than enough, despite the fact that Sadie didn't like that he was so intent on earning more money. So they didn't talk about money but at the same time, Sadie knew she could never order tea with her Sunday dinner because Maurice said they could have tea at home, instead. When Sadie rebelled, Maurice realized how much he'd hurt her at times and even then, he still couldn't just let her have her way. These types of things are on Maurice's mind as he makes his toast to her.
Intertwined in these toasts is another story, a mystery, that concerns a once rich family that was not only unkind but cruel to Maurice's family. A young Maurice does something that ends up hurting that family and also Maurice gets his revenge on that family as he slowly buys up all their properties when they hit hard times. His need for revenge is what drives Maurice to keep working for more money, more than they could possibly need, and this urge colors all parts of his life.
I suspected how the book would end and I was right. I felt sad during the entire book and certainly at the end. Depression can take your life while you are still alive and make you do things you might not do if you could see past that depression.
***This is a spoiler but I want to include this trigger warning (it does not take away from the important messages in this story but it can be upsetting).
Published January 24th 2019
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
Eighty four year old Maurice Hannigan is ready to say goodbye. All his affairs are in order, property sold, dog given to new owners, money in various accounts for various people, things given away, boxes packed with names of who gets the contents, everything done and sorted so he can enter a nursing home the next day. At least that is where he tells those in the know, that he is going.
There are five people whose memories he want to toast first though. One of the most poignant is the toast to his late brother. The love between Maurice and his older brother Tony, was something most people could only hope to have. Five years older than Maurice, Tony let Maurice know he would always be there to protect Maurice. Maybe reading wasn't Maurice's thing but Tony knew that Maurice would win in life, doing other things just as big or bigger than reading. When people asked Maurice what he wanted to be when he grew up, Maurice said he wanted to be Tony...it was as simple as that, nothing was better than Tony.
The last person Maurice toasted to was his late wife, Sadie, who had died two years earlier. It's Sadie's death that has broken Maurice's heart and spirit and his depression is a bottomless pit. Maurice was always faithful to Sadie, never wanted another woman, but he knows he let her down in ways that he knew he was doing at the time. Stubbornness was always strong in Maurice, he was a stubborn man, set in his ways, always after money even after he had more than enough, despite the fact that Sadie didn't like that he was so intent on earning more money. So they didn't talk about money but at the same time, Sadie knew she could never order tea with her Sunday dinner because Maurice said they could have tea at home, instead. When Sadie rebelled, Maurice realized how much he'd hurt her at times and even then, he still couldn't just let her have her way. These types of things are on Maurice's mind as he makes his toast to her.
Intertwined in these toasts is another story, a mystery, that concerns a once rich family that was not only unkind but cruel to Maurice's family. A young Maurice does something that ends up hurting that family and also Maurice gets his revenge on that family as he slowly buys up all their properties when they hit hard times. His need for revenge is what drives Maurice to keep working for more money, more than they could possibly need, and this urge colors all parts of his life.
I suspected how the book would end and I was right. I felt sad during the entire book and certainly at the end. Depression can take your life while you are still alive and make you do things you might not do if you could see past that depression.
***This is a spoiler but I want to include this trigger warning (it does not take away from the important messages in this story but it can be upsetting).
Spoiler
main character suicidePublished January 24th 2019
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
epiv's review against another edition
4.0
Maurice is a man advanced in his years on earth and ready to make toasts to some of the most influential people in his life. The sorrow of the story is that many of these dear words he says about his loved ones in his final toasts are things he never was able to utter aloud. When All Is Said is magnificent for the sorrowful simplicity of Maurice's story. His life, like many of ours, has been marked with love and loss and mistakes and endearments left unsaid. The novel doesn't need anything flashy because it cuts right to the heart of life moments we can relate to and feel personally. The story unfolds somewhat slowly, but it is easy to grow attached to Maurice and the people in his life as he is charming yet wounded. The chief takeaway is the love the people in your life fully and deeply while they are still a physical presence you can reach out and touch. Don't live life so principled and choked that you regret not having loved and expressed that love more fully in the end.
cazinthehat's review against another edition
4.0
The opening chapter wasn’t my bag...but when the book got going it turned into a lovely story. Griffin writes about grief and loss so well. Touched a fair few nerves.
briannethebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Over the course of a Saturday night at a hotel bar in Ireland, Maurice Hannigan toasts five people who have shaped his life. Throughout his toasts, Maurice shares the stories that built his life, triumphs and tragedies.
I was really drawn in by the premise of this one, and it was a little disappointing to me. For some reason I struggled to connect with the people Maurice was toasting to. I liked that there were some little surprises that Maurice finds out that alter how he was viewing a few of the events in his life. The ending did get me a little choked up, but I wish I had been more invested during the rest.
I was really drawn in by the premise of this one, and it was a little disappointing to me. For some reason I struggled to connect with the people Maurice was toasting to. I liked that there were some little surprises that Maurice finds out that alter how he was viewing a few of the events in his life. The ending did get me a little choked up, but I wish I had been more invested during the rest.
bookishnanna's review
This story is so beautiful. I cried at the ending and I can’t get this book out of my head.
rainbowowlets's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5