Tag Archives: contemporary fiction

#BookReview ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout #contemporary

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Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout is about stories. Stories of people and the lives they lead. Stories of lost love, of childhood misadventures, affairs, strange occurrences, emotions, hate, regret. Set in Crosby, Maine, the stories told by so many characters familiar from other Strout books happen in parallel, they intersect, some are fleeting and unrelated to anything else. Elizabeth StroutThe spine of the story centres on Bob Burgess and his occasional conversations with Lucy Barton. In the way that friends do, they talk about family problems, difficulty with a brother, with a son, with a partner. They share vulnerabilities, many of which can be traced to childhood and still resonate today though Bob and Lucy are now in their sixties. They try to figure out human nature, if people mean what they say, what is thought but not said, why people are loyal or disloyal, how a child can love a parent but not like them, of the differing nature of grief. Lucy says, ‘…people just live their lives with no real knowledge of anybody …My point is that every person on this earth is so complicated, and we match up for a moment – or maybe a lifetime – with somebody because we feel that we are connected to them. And we are. But we’re not in a certain way, because nobody can go into the crevices of another’s mind, even the person can’t go into the crevices of their own mind.’
We see Olive Kitteridge in her care home, telling stories to Lucy and Lucy returning the favour. We also see Olive’s loneliness, critically at the news that her only friend in the home, Isabelle, is moving to the west coast. Bob takes on a murder case, defending a local man Matt Beach accused of murdering his elderly mother. Matt, something of a strange loner, turns out to be a secret painter of real talent, painting portraits that Bob thinks should be in a New York gallery. In the absence of another suspect, Matt appears guilty to the police who don’t know him.
Of course people don’t tell each other everything, some secrets are eventually shared, others remain hidden, even between partners some things are never told. So is Lucy right, is it impossible to ever truly know another person? Like all Strout’s Maine titles, Tell Me Everything can be read as a standalone novel or as companion to the other books. I did start reading and wonder, is this more of the same. But Strout’s writing and characterisation is bewitching in its truth, its honesty and its realism, so I quickly became lost in the stories.

Read my reviews of these other books by Elizabeth Strout:-
AMY & ISABELLE
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
LUCY BY THE SEA
MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON
OH WILLIAM!
OLIVE KITTERIDGE
OLIVE, AGAIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Old God’s Time’ by Sebastian Barry
‘Smash all the Windows’ by Jane Davis
‘Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview TELL ME EVERYTHING by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Ho via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- JC Harvey

#BookReview ‘The Croatian Island Library’ by Eva Glyn @JaneCable #Croatia #contemporary

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One summer, three strangers sail a catamaran around the beautiful Croatian islands near Dubrovnik. Their joint mission is to bring library books to the islands’ children. Each member of the crew is running from something, a problem, a secret, a hidden past. The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn is a tale of ten weeks that changes lives. Eva Glyn Ana, owner of the catamaran, needs to earn money this summer or risks losing her boat, the ‘Dida Krila.’ Signing up for the library trial will, she hopes, win her a four-year contract and bring financial stability. If she fails, she will have no choice but to join the family oyster business. She employs two people. Lloyd, a widower and former teacher, will run the library part of the trip. Natali, a young mechanic who arrives on board with her tiny dog Obi, is so shy she seems frightened of her own shadow.
The first trip around the islands is about getting to know the job, and each other, while living in a confined space. Each person seems wrapped up in themselves, no one shares, there are tensions, awkwardnesses. When a purse is stolen near the library stall on one of the islands, there is an accusation of theft and the past comes roaring back to mess up the now. The future of the floating library is in danger and Ana, in her first role as a manager, feels out of her depth.
The hold of the past over the present is a theme running throughout the book. Ana has a decision to make when a former lover returns, seeking an answer about a deal which Ana never took seriously. Natali must summon the courage to change her life, move on from her difficult child, figure out what she wants and make it happen. Lloyd has an old mistake to acknowledge and set aside, and discover a new path forwards. No matter how Ana, Lloyd and Natali each, for their own reasons, want to forget, the past is not a forgotten world and its imprint is on every day today.
This is a story set in surroundings of such Mediterranean beauty but in the deep blue water and the green wooded hills, the shadows of war and tragedy remain. Glyn has created characters that stayed with me after I finished the book, she reminds us that love from family and friends is a gift, not an automatic right. Highly recommended.

Here are my reviews of other books by Eva Glyn:-
THE COLLABORATOR’S DAUGHTER
THE MISSING PIECES OF US
Eva Glyn is the pen name of author Jane Cable, here are my reviews of some of Jane’s other novels:-
ANOTHER YOU
ENDLESS SKIES
THE CHEESEMAKER’S HOUSE

If you this, try:-
‘The Lie of the Land’ by Amanda Craig
‘Akin’ by Emma Donoghue
‘The Girl in the Painting’ by Renita d’Silva

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CROATIAN ISLAND LIBRARY by Eva Glyn @JaneCable https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8H0 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Elizabeth Strout

#BookReview ‘The Blue of You’ by Amanda Huggins @troutiemcfish #contemporary

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I read the 120-page novella The Blue of You by Amanda Huggins in an afternoon, drawn into the story by her exploration of relationships old and new, the imprints of the former on a fresh start. Amanda HugginsIn 2010, a tragedy in her northern hometown sends Janey south to London. A lost friend, a parting from her first love. When she returns alone to Langwick Bay years later, she’s still lost and searching for something. Janey is at sea emotionally and geographically, but her hometown is her anchor. It is the death of her friend Alice when they were teenagers that magnetically brings Janey home. The loss is painful still and, after spending the intervening years stabbing her guilt with the sharp tip of a knife, she seeks resolution. Alice died at Christmas and Janey’s annual celebrations ever since have been loaded with grief and regret. The Blue of You takes place in the lead up to Christmas 2022.
Not sure if she will resettle permanently in Langwick Bay, Janey begins to heal when she meets Tom Inglewood, a coble fisherman who is part of a group of local men trying to preserve the traditional way of fishing. ‘Tom has never told me how he feels in the everyday language I know, has never used the word love, but has shown me his love every day – there is love in mending nets, in advising and helping the lads in the village, there is love in the way he watches and reads the sky and the sea. He knows love better than I do.’ Tom’s solid presence, his undemanding acceptance of Janey and his unspoken but visible love for her, help her to think clearly of Alice and, for the first time as a adult, to explore what really happened.
The Blue of You is firmly anchored in its location. Huggins is a northern writer and her love of the place shines out on every page. Janey has always missed home, longs to return, but now she is back she’s not sure what, or who, she’s looking for. Only that she wants to make peace with her past, and move on. But the locals don’t recognise her, assuming her to be yet another incomer who doesn’t appreciate or have interest in the local way of life. When she does meet an old acquaintance, it doesn’t go as expected.
Finally she beings to talk about Alice. ‘Every detail is clear as day in my head, but the words stick to my tongue like glue the moment I start to speak.’ She talks to Stella, Alice’s mother; to Rory, her first love; and to Tom, who encourages her to remember with fondness not regret.
This is a story of sadness and hope told with delicacy and sensitivity, a coming to terms with difficult memories. Of recognising the impossibility of moving on until the truth is faced.

Read my reviews of other work by Amanda Huggins:-
Novellas
ALL OUR SQUANDERED BEAUTY
CROSSING THE LINES
Short stories
AN UNFAMILIAR LANDSCAPE
BRIGHTLY COLOURED HORSES
EACH OF US A PETAL
SCRATCHED ENAMEL HEART
SEPARATED FROM THE SEA
Poetry
THE COLLECTIVE NOUNS FOR BIRDS

If you like this, try:-
‘Did You Ever Have a Family’ by Bill Clegg
‘Smash all the Windows’ by Jane Davis
‘When All is Said’ by Anne Griffin

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:-
#BookReview THE BLUE OF YOU by Amanda Huggins @troutiemcfish https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8wa via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- David Hewson

#BookReview ‘Water’ by @JohnBoyneBooks #Elements #contemporary

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Who is Willow Hale? When Vanessa Carvin arrives on an unnamed Irish island, she changes her name to Willow and shaves her head. Can she simply disappear or will her past follow her? Water by John Boyne is first in his Elements quartet. It is a small book with a powerful story. John BoyneVanessa is escaping a truly horrendous time but at heart she knows she must acknowledge the choices she made throughout a difficult marriage. On the island she hopes to escape notice, but few people live there and everyone is curious about the newcomer. Her landlord is invisible, her daughter Rebecca is ghosting her messages, her nearest neighbour is nosy. She does connect with local priest Ifechi, Bananas the cat and neighbouring young farmer Luke. ‘I can call myself Willow Hale till the cows come home but, underneath, I’m still Vanessa Carvin. I just can’t let anyone know.’
Slowly as Vanessa remembers, her story becomes clearer. The offence committed by her husband, what she did and didn’t do during this time. Families were broken, not only families of the victims but also the family of the guilty party. Actions have consequences. John Boyne writes with such intensity of emotion and spareness on the page, he takes you straight into Vanessa’s shoes. It takes distance, isolation on an almost empty island surrounded by sea, for Vanessa to admit what happened.
I’m intrigued to see how the books in this quartet of novellas are linked; by theme, character, setting? At the end of Water, Willow says, ‘The elements – water, fire, earth, air – are our greatest friends, our animators. They feed us, warm us, give us life, and yet conspire to kill us at every juncture.’ Earth is next.
Sensitive. Bold. Excellent.

Click the title to read my reviews of these other novels by John Boyne:-
A HISTORY OF LONELINESS
A LADDER TO THE SKY
A TRAVELLER AT THE GATES OF WISDOM
ALL THE BROKEN PLACES
STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND THEN LEAVE
THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES… Curious? Read the first paragraph of THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES here.
EARTH #2ELEMENTS

If you like this, try:-
‘Old God’s Time’ by Sebastian Barry
‘Did You Ever Have a Family’ by Bill Clegg
‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ by Elizabeth Strout

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview WATER by @JohnBoyneBooks https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7rt via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- John Boyne

#BookReview ‘The Rector’s Wife’ by Joanna Trollope #familysaga #contemporary

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No-one writes a small village saga like Joanna Trollope. Though the main character of The Rector’s Wife is the said wife, the tensions within her marriage, family and community are universal. The independence of the woman, the stifling controlling behaviour of an uncommunicative husband, the disapproval of outsiders making judgements on the family with no knowledge of the truth. Joanna TrollopeFirst published in 1991, The Rector’s Wife is about a priest’s wife struggling to rediscover her own identity, a feeling of self that faded on marriage and has been swamped since by the competing needs of husband, children, church and village. The flower committee, the Sunday School, the newsletter, the endless teas and cakes to bake. The silent expectation that she will do this without payment. It is a sad story about a struggling marriage where communication is limited and the three children – Charlotte, Luke and Flora – observe in fear, confusion and ultimately in rebellion, in their own individual ways. How can they know who they are if their father rarely talks and their mother is having her own identity crisis. But it is also a heartwarming story about family love and adaptation.
Anna Bouverie’s rebellion begins when her husband Peter fails to be awarded promotion to archdeacon. ‘He would be changed by this; he couldn’t avoid that. Even the gradual assimilation of his disappointment would leave scars and blights, like a landscape after fire.’ Anna wonders if he will become even more difficult. Peter retreats into himself, leaving Anna to deal with the family’s financial problems. Son Luke wants to drive to India in an old van with friends, but doesn’t have the money. Flora is being bullied at her comprehensive and longs to go to the convent school. Oldest child Charlotte, away at university, avoids going home. Anna’s solution is pragmatic. To the scandalous whispers of the village women, she takes a job as a shelf-stacker at Pricewells supermarket. To her surprise, she enjoys the work. Her husband is scandalised. Two newcomers to the village, a rich businessman, and the brother of the new archdeacon, observe the upheaval and watch Anna with interest.
As Anna faces down her husband’s sullen disapproval, her mother and mother-in-law rebel in their own small ways and navigate their own choppy waters with resilience. There are asides which raise a chuckle, particularly old villager Mr Biddle, and some of Flora’s pronouncements. I finished the book feeling indignant at how the men in Anna’s life, no matter how well-meaning, seem to treat her as an appendage to themselves rather than seeing Anna the person.
The ending is satisfactory, not neat but realistic. “I married the man, not the job,” Anna tells a parishioner. “I’m not an outboard motor, I’m another boat.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my reviews of other novels by Joanna Trollope:-
A PASSIONATE MAN
A VILLAGE AFFAIR
MUM & DAD
THE CHOIR

If you like this, try:-
‘We Are Water’ by Wally Lamb
‘The Language of Others’ by Clare Morrall
‘The Last Day’ by Claire Dyer

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:-
#BookReview THE RECTOR’S WIFE by Joanna Trollope https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-70O via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Nicola Upson

#BookReview ‘A Passionate Man’ by Joanna Trollope #familysaga #contemporary

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I started A Passionate Man by Joanna Trollope wondering about the identity of the man in the title, and finished it not being entirely sure. There are three men in the story who could fit the label and although I enjoyed the book I finished it feeling incomplete. Joanna TrollopeJoanna Trollope is so good at exploring the experiences faced by couples and families, relationship challenges are emotionally similar despite differences in the ages of the people involved, class, geography, decade or century. In A Passionate Man, published in 1990, she deals with a seemingly happy couple whose lives are rent apart by the death of a parent and the unexpected interest of an amorous colleague. Trollope’s characters are middle class, doctor Archie and teacher Liza Logan live a comfortable life in a covetable house in a Hampshire village. But all is not beautiful in this beautiful setting. A plan to build house on a field causes ruptures between friends and neighbours, locally-born workers struggle to live where they grew up while the elderly die quietly in loneliness. The cosy life of the Logans begins to fracture.
As husband and wife become focussed on their own emotions and needs, the divisions grow to the degree that their three children notice the undercurrents. Grief of a parent is an unexpectedly intense, disorientating experience which makes one question one’s own life, achievements, mistakes, dreams and longings. Trouble can often follow. I found myself becoming irritated by both Archie and Liza, rather than sympathetic, as each struggles with the consequences of their own actions and the other’s. As the family’s fractures deepen to chasms, Trollope’s portrayal of the children however is excellent.
I was left feeling that the ending is rather rushed and convenient and that ‘passionate’ is not the most appropriate adjective. Not my favourite Trollope novel.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Here are my reviews of other Trollope novels:-
A VILLAGE AFFAIR
MUM & DAD
THE CHOIR
THE RECTOR’S WIFE

If you like this, try:-
‘In the Midst of Winter’ by Isabel Allende
‘The Marriage Plot’ by Jeffrey Eugenides
‘In Another Life’ by Julie Christine Johnson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A PASSIONATE MAN by Joanna Trollope https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6KA via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Andrew Taylor

#BookReview ‘Ordinary Thunderstorms’ by William Boyd #contemporary #mystery

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Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd is a pacy mystery story in the mould of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps and the Will Smith film Enemy of the State. Innocent man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cloud scientist Adam Kindred is eating a meal alone in a quiet West London restaurant when his instinct to help a fellow diner sends him on the run, accused of a crime he didn’t commit. William BoydThis is a fast-paced story that takes suspected murderer Kindred from a forgotten triangle of wasteland near Chelsea Bridge to the East End of London. As his name and face become media headlines, he finds a new identity at the Church of John Christ. As ‘John 1603’ he meets fellow dropouts, all with their own reasons for leaving behind a previous identity, all willing to sit through a two-hour sermon for the hearty meal that follows. Adam’s first priority, with his stash of cash running out, is to make money. Second, he sets out to discover the truth of the crime he witnessed and is accused of doing; the murder of Dr Philip Wang, head of research and development at pharmaceutical company Calenture-Deutz.
This is Kindred’s story and 70% of the action is told from his viewpoint. But Boyd adds pace to the story by adding the narrative of Ingram Fryzer, CEO of Calenture-Deutz, river police officer Rita Nashe and ex-soldier JonJo Case. Essentially this is a story of corporate greed and pharmaceutical fraud lightened by dark humour and the touching relationship of Kindred, Mhouse and her son Ly-on.
There are a few sticky coincidences but, forgiving these, this is an entertaining ‘what would I do if it happened to me’ tale. An average thriller elevated by the quality of Boyd’s writing.

Here are my reviews of other books by William Boyd:-
ANY HUMAN HEART
LOVE IS BLIND
NAT TATE: AN AMERICAN ARTIST 1928-1960
SWEET CARESS
THE BLUE AFTERNOON
THE DREAMS OF BETHANY MELLMOTH
TRIO
WAITING FOR SUNRISE

… and try the first paragraph of ARMADILLO.

If you like this, try these:-
‘Reservoir 13’ by Jon McGregor
‘Thornyhold’ by Mary Stewart
‘Brat Farrar’ by Josephine Tey

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview ORDINARY THUNDERSTORMS by William Boyd‪ https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6zO via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Rachel Rhys

#BookReview ‘The Choir’ by Joanna Trollope #familysaga #rereading

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The Choir was the first book by Joanna Trollope that I read, in 1988, and the first published under her own name. Prior to that, she had written historical novels as Caroline Harvey. After reading and enjoying Mum & Dad in 2020, I decided to revisit my old Trollope paperbacks. Joanna TrollopeI never liked the phrase ‘aga saga,’ coined to describe Trollope’s style of novel – community-based, middle class, family trauma, forbidden romance – finding it over-simplistic and belittling of Trollope’s work. The Choir is about a limited time period in the life of a small community, the cathedral and choir school at Aldminster, and what happens when the stonework begins to crumble. Money must be found or saved, cuts must be made, unthinkable changes are considered. This is a story of small-world politics, the interaction of personalities domineering, clever, manipulative, naïve, well-meaning, defeated.
When the Dean of Aldminster Cathedral investigates the building’s dodgy lighting system, he finds stone erosion that will cost a fortune to fix. He first considers sell the headmaster’s magnificent listed house to the council for use as a community centre. There are social divisions within the town and the cathedral’s quarter is seen by some as superior and unwelcoming, a new social centre may help redress the balance. When the true cost of the renovation becomes apparent, Dean Hugh Cavendish considers closing the cathedral’s choir. The latter idea is abhorrent to headmaster Alexander Troy and organist Leo Beckford. Personalities ally themselves to one side of the argument or the other. Caught in the middle is chorister Henry Ashworth whose absent father lives in Saudi Arabia and whose mother Sally is dallying on the edge of an affair. Trollope is excellent at drawing this cast of characters, each fully rounded, each of which is engaging even when they are being awful. Like Ianthe, the Dean’s rebellious daughter, who fancies herself in love with Leo despite a lack of encouragement from him.
When a money-raising scheme is suggested that involves some of the Cathedral Close’s most unlikely characters, it is expected to fail. Henry becomes an unexpected star. One event leads to another, decisions must be made, marriages falter and professional courtesies are forgotten. In this small community, they all know each other’s business, politics becomes all-consuming; the finances of the cathedral, its place in the town, the accessibility of the choir to children from less advantaged families, and the rivalry around the town council boardroom table.

Joanna Trollope

My original copy of ‘The Choir’

This novel is 35 years old but that doesn’t matter. I enjoyed it immensely.

Read my reviews of other novels by Joanna Trollope:-
A PASSIONATE MAN
A VILLAGE AFFAIR
MUM & DAD
THE RECTOR’S WIFE

If you like this, try:-
‘A Single Thread’ by Tracy Chevalier
‘The Gustav Sonata’ by Rose Tremain
‘We Are Water’ by Wally Lamb

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CHOIR by Joanna Trollope https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-68K via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Sebastian Barry

#BookReview ‘Lucy by the Sea’ by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout #contemporary

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Elizabeth Strout never writes a bad novel. When I started to read Lucy by the Sea, her latest, I was taken aback to find it is set during the pandemic; something I have avoided. But I was soon immersed in the life of Lucy Barton and her relocation from New York to a small seaside town in Maine. Elizabeth StroutMy misgivings about lockdown were reduced because this is a Strout novel. She doesn’t write about the pandemic – apart from occasional mentions of masks and vaccines – she writes about people. This is a finely-judged story about ageing, about grief [new and long-lived], about secrets within families and self-denial of difficult truths. Lucy moves into a large house outside the town of Crosby, not because she planned it, but because her ex-husband William persuades her it will be safer than the city. There they discover new and old acquaintances and reacquaint themselves with each other. William is recently separated; Lucy was widowed a year earlier. Both feel their age and are anxious about the subtle changes, but don’t like admitting it to themselves or anyone else.
Through Lucy’s eyes as she reflects on her own life, and that of her children and family, we see how childhood poverty never leaves you even if you leave that poverty behind. How marriage turbulence is sometimes negotiable, and sometimes terminal. How education saved her but didn’t save her sister or brother, and how she was for years blind to that inequality. It is thought-provoking stuff. Honest. Painful. It makes you consider your own life and how you see it through blinkers gained through your personal experience.
Strout’s novels are all inter-twined through character and place, but always with a light touch. If this is the first Strout book you pick up, please read it. This is not a series, there is no first and last book to be read in order. It is an ensemble. If it were theatrical, it would be a repertory company. The pandemic-forced move to Crosby takes Lucy out of her comfort zone, away from friends, and she rubs shoulders with people she wouldn’t normally meet. As we see Lucy age from novel to novel, Lucy by the Sea highlights her new vulnerability and anxiety as she and William work out how to handle the awkward elements of getting old.
This is a more political novel than any of Strout’s previous work. The pandemic setting makes this inevitable. There is a shadow of mask v anti-mask, resident v incomer, plus brief mentions of George Floyd and storming of the Capitol on January 6. But this is not overt and always put into Lucy’s context. Strout places her characters in a time of disruption, fear and death. For everyone who lived through it, the surreal isolation forced by pandemic lockdown was an opportunity for consideration, re-evaluation and truth. A gift for a novelist with the powers of Elizabeth Strout.
Excellent.

Read my reviews of these other books by Elizabeth Strout:-
AMY & ISABELLE
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON
OH WILLIAM!
OLIVE KITTERIDGE
OLIVE, AGAIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Curtain Call’ by Anthony Quinn
‘A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom’ by John Boyne
‘Shrines of Gaiety’ by Kate Atkinson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview LUCY BY THE SEA by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-65D via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Frances Brody

#BookReview ‘Listening Still’ by Anne Griffin #Irish #contemporary

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When All is Said the debut novel by Anne Griffin was one of my favourite books of 2019. Listening Still is Irish writer Griffin’s second novel. It focusses on Jeanie Masterson, an undertaker who can hear the last words of the newly deceased. She finds herself a juggler of truth, obfuscations and lies as she tries to balance her commitment to the dead person to pass on a message to the ones left behind, with her own emotional need to soften harsh words that may hurt the recipient. This shaky balance of truth and lies is the theme of the book set in the small community of Kilcross. Anne GriffinIt took me a while to get into this book, to care. Unlike Maurice Hannigan in When All is Said who is a character whose head and being I immediately slipped into, I found Jeanie more difficult to reach and less sympathetic. Starting with the shock announcement by Jeanie’s parents that they are retiring and leaving her and husband Niall to run the family undertakers, the novel quickly widens out to encompass Jeanie’s childhood and teenage years and how she came to terms with her unusual gift. This return to the past became frustrating as I wanted to hear more about the voices of the dead and their stories, rather than the ups and downs of Jeanie’s love life. My fault, I was hoping for a community ensemble story in the style of Marilynne Robinson and Elizabeth Strout.
Jeanie’s difficulties with taking over the family firm are inextricably linked to her relationship with her husband. In order to move forward, something has to give. But what? As she seeks the answers, Jeanie’s travels take her to London, Norway and France. I particularly enjoyed the section with Marielle and Lucien. Seventy-five year old Marielle can also hear the dead. Her neighbour and boyfriend Lucien digs graves for Marielle’s clients while rescuing the pieces of furniture she rejects, he stashes them in a shed knowing that she will regret throwing them away.
After the brilliance of When All is Said, perhaps my expectations of a second novel were unrealistically high. Yes I was disappointed but this is still is a well-written, enjoyable novel by an author who is on my to-watch list. And it left me thinking of that old chestnut – can a well-meant lie hurt more than the difficult truth?

Read my review of WHEN ALL IS SAID, also by Anne Griffin.

If you like this, try:-
‘Unsettled Ground’ by Claire Fuller
‘Elizabeth is Missing’ by Emma Healey
‘Something to Hide’ by Deborah Moggach

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview LISTENING STILL by Anne Griffin #bookreview https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-67w via @SandraDanby