Anne Griffin‘s best-selling, critically-acclaimed debut, WHEN ALL IS SAID is nominated for Good Housekeeping’s Big Book Award 2019! The award, given by Hearst UK, is intended to ‘highlight[…] the finest new or emerging fiction and non-fiction titles in UK publishing’. Huge congratulations to Anne on this very well-deserved nomination!

The novel is published by Sceptre in the UK and Thomas Dunne Books in North America. Here’s the synopsis…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember — all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories — of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice — the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

Here is just some of the aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘Anne Griffin’s debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling – stunning!’ — Graham Norton

‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears… There is something special here.’ — John Boyne

‘Beautiful. Intimate. Tearful. Aching and lyrical. So simply and beautifully told.’ — Louise Penny

‘Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, a lonely man truthfully wrought and a character you love from the off, in spite of his flaws or maybe because of them… a terrific debut.’ — Kit de Waal, award-winning author of My Name is Leon

‘A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner. Maurice is a fabulous character, wonderfully flawed and completely engaging; his voice is familiar and real, full of sadness and regret and defiance, and unexpected tenderness.’ — Donal Ryan, award-winning author of The Spinning Heart

‘Pitch-perfect prose… Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut.’ — Mail on Sunday

‘It’s all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book.’ 5* — Sunday Express

‘A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful.’ — Grazia

‘An intimate character study of a wealthy 80-year-old Co Meath farmer, WHEN ALL IS SAID is also a study of extreme reticence and self-sabotage, giving voice to a man who, in matters of the heart, has all too often chosen to remain silent… Griffin’s strength is in voice and in the rhythm of her prose, which is rich without being overwritten. A winner of the John McGahern Award for Literature, she fits into the Irish lyrical tradition… but WHEN ALL IS SAID feels like a bridge between the past and the present, Maurice’s belated loquacity breaking open that familiar Irish silence… a testament to Griffin’s talent that she paints such a complete portrait of a man whose contrariness disguises his stoicism. By the end of the novel his humanity is clear; he has made himself known.’ — Independent

‘Griffin’s portrait of an Irish octogenarian provides a stage for the exploration of guilt, regret, and loss, all in the course of one memorable night.’ — Kirkus

‘Maurice’s humor, his keen observations on class and family, and his colloquial language, as well as Griffin’s strong sense of place, create the feeling of a life connected to many others by strands of affection and hatred.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘The most impressive aspects of this first novel from the pen of prize-winning short-story writer Anne Griffin are its rich, flowing prose, its convincing voice, and its imaginative and clever structure. She has complete mastery of her quite complex plot, and manages to imbue her sizeable cast of diverse characters with life and energy… Griffin is a writer of unusual confidence and authority, and a welcome arrival to the literary scene.’ — Irish Times