There’s a definite “what if?” mood that accompanies the follow up to Anne Griffin’s astonishingly accomplished debut When All Is Said. The author whose prose stands out for its clarity and precision, paying heed to the idiosyncrasies of human nature is my kind of storyteller; on this occasion she’s written an unusual, engaging tale in which life, love and death all battle for our protagonist’s undivided attention as she searches for her true identity.

Jeanie Masterson is a woman in possession of a remarkable talent, that of conversing with the dead, a skill inherited from her father and one that has kept her living in the small Irish town of Kilcross for her entire thirty two years. The Mastersons are an established firm of undertakers with Jeanie working alongside her father David, her husband Niall and her aunt Harry but she has conflicting emotions concerning her rare talent, viewing it as both a gift and a curse. Nonetheless this is her family legacy and one she can’t easily walk away from so when Jeanie’s parents announce plans for their retirement, leaving Jeanie and Niall in sole charge of the business this woman is finally forced to question the meaning of her life, setting her off on a path of introspection, much soul searching and a bid for freedom. Still yearning for a long lost love and harbouring regret at not seizing an opportunity to escape the confines of her home town when it presented itself has left this character torn. Her past contains such hope, anticipation and excitement, her character joyously alive and living in the moment as opposed to the present in which she’s resigned, resentful and petrified of change, having relegated her pursuit of happiness to the backseat in favour of fulfilling familial obligations. Claustrophobia stalks her so that a desire to run from the people who love her most is uppermost in her mind. This heavy burden of obligation reverberates throughout the narrative as we follow Jeanie from her past to her present life, welcoming her attempts to listen to her inner voice, drowning out the voices of the deceased and plucking up the courage to branch out.

Dealing with playground taunts from an early age and then general skepticism regarding her talent doesn’t deter Jeanie from believing in the positive benefits of her ‘superpower’ to bring closure and a sense of relief to the recently bereaved. Unlike her father however she struggles with being less than honest when passing on messages from the dead but being economical with the truth is something that’s been drummed into her from a young age. Honesty isn’t always the best policy especially if the final words to the bereaved are harsh and unpalatable so a touch of sugar coating the truth doesn’t go amiss!! I loved this side to father and daughter, showing their inherent kindness even if it is somewhat misguided! In reality lying comes naturally to all these characters who aren’t being kind or fair to themselves, either unhappy with their lot, preferring to settle for second best or else hiding a family secret that is well past its sell by date. Not only is Jeanie at a definitive crossroads in her life she’s also on the brink of confronting some unexpected home truths.

There’s safety in familiarity and this is a storyline that will resonate with anyone who remains firmly stuck within their own comfort zone. Jeanie’s world is small and relatively uncomplicated; she even has the same friends Ruth and Peanut who have been by her side since their schooldays. Together with her now husband Niall, this group of friends have stood the test of time and distance, even withstanding newcomer and budding photographer Fionn whose presence has an unsettling divisive effect,carving a wedge between the previously harmonious foursome. Comfortable but not ecstatically happy in her marriage to Niall there’s also her autistic brother Mikey’s feelings to consider, someone who detests change and who enjoys regaling his sister with his love and encyclopaedic knowledge of military history. With these characters, not forgetting postman Arthur, an honorary member of the family, Anne Griffin has once again beautifully depicts the highs and lows of small town community life where everyone knows your business against the backdrop of Jeanie’s current dilemma. With both physical and emotional ties to restrict Jeanie, I was torn between sympathy for her plight and frustration at her frequent indecision. Flawed she most certainly is but it’s her detachment and coolness towards a man who has always had her best interests at heart that prevented me from truly warming to her.

A twinge of disappointment crept into my thoughts as the Masterson family secret that has been buried beneath layers of deceit finally emerges. I don’t really know what I’d been expecting but it wasn’t that! Deflated by its announcement, which is merely a minor blip in the scheme of things and rather annoyed with the Mastersons on Jeanie’s behalf, I wasn’t as enamoured with the storyline nor the characters as I’d hoped to be. Although this is an enjoyable novel on many levels and there’s so much to be learned about love, regret and honesty (and of course death!) after witnessing Jeanie’s behaviour past and present, it doesn’t quite match up to her debut which is a shame. I love that Maurice Hannigan makes a brief appearance in this bittersweet tale, a character who’s life story evokes a far greater intensity of feeling than Jeanie’s does but he was always going to be a hard act to follow. Even though I wasn’t in raptures over this storyline I think Anne Griffin’s writing is head and shoulders above many other authors and this is a book I’d be more than happy to recommend. This author has secured her spot on my list of those I will automatically turn to every time a new novel is forthcoming. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

Once I’d got over the premise of the book (I have a distinct lack of imagination)...I really managed to enjoy it!

I loved the way the book flirted with the present and the past, how two storylines interwoven.

Particularly loved learning about the history of Jeanie and Fionn and then Jeanie and Niall’s relationship! The real and raw struggles and the journey that they they went on.

I was torn about the ending, on the one hand I loved it and on the other hand I hate that it was left a little open...

Overall this was a 4/5 for me!

Listening Still by Anne Griffin, the authors second novel. I haven't had the opportunity to read her debut as yet, I hear it's very good, after reading this I would certainly like to try it.

By just over 10% of the way into this book, I was hooked, I couldn't put the book down and kept thinking to myself "I'll just read one more chapter". The chapters aren't overly long (I know some readers prefer this) so it is really easy to get lost in its pages. In all honesty, it wasn't what I was expecting, I thought there would be more in the way of Jeanie communicating with the dead but instead, we get the intricacies of her family life as she is really starting to question everything.

I did enjoy this book overall, I will admit the pacing felt slightly off to me, the middle dragged slightly and the end felt slightly rushed and left me with too many unanswered questions. The writing is great, easy to take in and I felt the scene-setting was very good. The characters are all believable, flaws and all. I just didn't connect to the book as much as I had hoped I would and in the end, it left me feeling a little bit flat.

My thanks go to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars

3.5 stars (rounded up)

Jeanie Masterson hears dead people, not all the time but for a short time after they have passed. This is both her gift and her cross to bear.

There is lots to like about Listening Still, it is brave and honest with no compromising. Having said that I really wanted more, the draw (well at least for me) was ‘the gift’ of speaking to the dead so I felt a bit short changed when I thought about how that storyline could go and didn’t. Jeanie as a character I didn’t really warm to, but that’s personal taste I guess and that family secret, well that was a bit of a let down as well.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful, interestingly quirky and enveloping read. I was totally absorbed in this book set in a small Irish town based around Jeanie and her family’s business of undertaking. The village is a tight-knit, caring community and quintessentially Irish.
The story slips back easily into the past to establish Jeanie and her friends back stories, reliable and caring Niall, Peanut - fiercely protective and Ruth, along with a new member of school, the charismatic Fionn. It is beautiful and tragic and emotional at varying times throughout the book.
I felt I was part of this community and friendship group and read avidly to see where the plot would take me. The ending considered all aspects of the story but I have to say I couldn’t have predicted where it ended up. Well in all honesty I didn’t stop reading to consider it, as it felt real and in the moment.
Poor Jeanie, with her unique ‘gift’, facing lots of deep thinking and decisions, from her youth in school, right until the end of the story. The strength of her friendships are enviable and the decisions she faces are certainly not! I was sad to say goodbye to Jeanie and Niall.

I wondered if any follow-up could possibly be as good as When All Is Said, Ann Griffins' debut novel, but this brilliant author has done it again with the story of Jeanie, a 32-year-old woman living in a small Irish town where she works at the family funeral parlour. When her parents announce they are retiring, leaving Jeanie and her husband, Niall, in charge, Jeanie feels conflicted, remembering how once she longed to spread her wings.
But she's trapped in Ireland, by the living and the dead - the latter, it transpires, need her as much as her family, For, like her father, she can hear their final thoughts and relay their messages to their surviving loved ones. Messages as banal as where they can find the will to as shattering as revealing their parentage isn't what they thought!
Against the backdrop of conversations with the the dead, Jeanie's own story emerges, of schoolday friendship with Peanut, Ruth and Niall, of taking up her post at the funeral parlour, of meeting the love of her life, Fionn, who wanted her to move to London. But she could not abandon her responsibilty to the dead - a decision that may come back to haunt her.
Bent under the weight of her responsibilities as a listener to the late departed, facing trouble in her marriage and touched by personal tragedy, Jeanie must finally decide where her future lies. Can she continue to bear the needs of her clients - or is it time to turn her back on the dead?
What a joy of a read! Funny and emotional, the story draws you in straightaway with its matter-of-fact acceptance of the living and the dead conversing "as naturally as woodpigeons." It's peopled with wonderful characters, from Arthur the Twix-addicted postman to Jeanie's autistic brother, Mikey, her embalmer aunt Harry, and her friends Peanut and Ruth.
The author's prose is superb - descriptions of people, places and events spring naturally from the pages, and she makes great use of similes and metaphors to capture exactly the emotions she want us to share - like Jeanie feeling as if "I'd jumped into Lough Sear on the coldest day in winter" to describe her reaction to Fionn.
None but a born storyteller could tell us Jeanie's "Irish freckles cover every surface like daffodils in March", and that's what Ann Griffin is - a born storyteller who has given us another great story of human relationships between family, friends and lovers, introduced a quirky twist with the voices of the dead, and encouraged us to think about the importance of being true to ourselves in this life, and maybe even the next.

I am really struggling to review this book.

I really wanted to enjoy it, and I did to a point, but I also found it slow and boring. I think this will be a marmite book, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, but that will not stop me from reading other books by this author as I really enjoyed When All is Said.

3 stars

I don’t know if it’s just the way I’m feeling due to personal circumstances but I just couldn’t get into this book. I couldn’t warm to Jeanie and found her relationship with Niall to be odd at times, while it’s very well written I don’t think it touched enough on her “gift” and more on other characters that you wernt invested in. While being thought provoking at times it just wasn’t for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy!

What a magnificent book!

Jeanie is someone so very special.. she can hear the dead for a little while after they’ve passed away.. what a gift.. or curse?

The struggle of a young girl growing up following her family’s path and not managing to find her own.

When her dad announces he’s retiring and living her the undertakers business, things start to unravel and Jeanie needs more than ever to find herself and what she wants.

Anne takes you deep in the psyche of Jeanie and demonstrates how hard it I can be to make a choice and find one’s place. The love story between Jeanie and Fionn; Jeanie and Niall, the family dynamics, the secrets. This was all truly beautiful.

It was so heartbreaking... I cried so many times and I can’t say more for fear or letting out spoilers but this is a masterpiece that we all ought to read.

Wonderful and soul crushing at the same time, I can’t explain why I related so much but I don’t often cry that many tears!

Thank you so much Net Galley and Sceptre for giving me the opportunity to read this gem in advance.

Listening Still by Anne Griffin Pub Date 29 April 21
Jeanie Masterson has a gift: she can hear the recently dead and give voice to their final wishes and revelations. Inherited from her father, this gift has enabled the family undertakers to flourish in their small Irish town. Yet, she has always been uneasy about censoring some of the dead's last messages to the living. Unsure, too, about the choice she made when she left school seventeen years ago: to stay or leave for a new life in London with her charismatic teenage sweetheart.
Although it was a well-written story of family, friendship, grief, and secrets, this book wasn't for me.

Jeannie works in the family undertakers but she has a gift of hearing the dead say their final wishes and secrets.
When her parents announce their retirement she is forced to face decisions about her life and the way forward. She is married to Niall who also works in the business but she feels her marriage is falling apart. Niall was her first love but Fionn was the love of her life and when he moved to London she had to decide whether to follow him or stay..
Then Fionn dies and Niall leaves her.
With her life unravelling she escapes first to Norway to stay with an old school friend and then to France.
What will happen when or if she moves back?

There was something about 'Listening Still' that drew me in completely. Whether it was the peacefulness and serenity of the cover or the unique plot, I was really compelled to read this book.

Admittedly, I struggled to read this book. It was a real slow burner to begin with and the flipping back and forth in time made me fall out of interest. I could understand and appreciate the pressures that Jeanie felt with having to take over the family business, looking out for her older brother as well as her marriage. I also got the whole regrets and what ifs about moving to London with Fionn. But it just made it all seem a little patchy and like too much was going on at once. Because of that, I felt like the whole communicating with the dead part of the plot was cast aside instead of being the main premise. Also the big plot twist personally felt like it was thrown in as an extra rather than allowing it to fully develop. That said, one thing I did really like about this book though was the ending with Niall. As torn as I was with what happened between them, I thought it was a very poignant and realistic way to end the book. It's that 'ripping of the band-aid' kind of feeling, it had to be done.

Overall, although 'Listening Still' wasn't my type of book, that ending definitely left a powerful imprint on me.

Listening Still by Anne Griffin

This is the story of Jeanie Masterton, a young woman who can hear the dead and pass messages on to their family and friends. This gift has both helped and hindered her in her job in the family undertakers business and in her personal life. We follow Jeanie in the present day when her parents have announced their intention to retire and revisit her teenage/early adult years.

What a beautiful book! I loved Anne Griffin's first novel, When All is Said, and this is just as brilliant. Fantastic story, great characters, really original and such beautiful writing. This is a book that really makes you think and that lives on with you after you've turned the last page. I can't wait to read what Anne Griffin writes next. Very highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Having read and loved When All is Said by this author, I couldn't wait to read Listening Still. This book didn't disappoint and I know I've found a new favourite author and won't hesitate to buy any book she releases. Listening Still tells the story of Jeanie a girl with the gift of being able to hear the final words of the dead. The story is beautifully written and gave me lots to think about. It is a story about courage and family and finding oneself. The story is filled with emotion and deals with death, loss, love, lies, truth, and so much more and I loved that it was balanced with some great humour. I read this book in two sittings but I know its a story that will stay with me for a long time just as Maurice from When All is Said has. I highly recommend this book to any one that loves to read and even those who don't. Jeanie is a great character and Anne Griffin is a superb author. A very easy 5 star review from me.

Overall, this book was odd, interesting and boring all at the same time. Jeanie Masterson can talk to the dead - but only for a limited time immediately after they die. She works with her dad, auntie and husband at the family undertakers business. The story about her marriage and husband was interesting and realistic - the sense of feeling lost and stuck, wondering what might have been if she had made different life choices. Jeanie was a somewhat interesting character but lacked drive and self-esteem. Considering she had this amazing gift (though also a curse at times), she could have been and done so much more which was frustrating. The feeling that she couldn't leave Kilcross or her family didn't come across strongly enough for me. Her husband, though he loved her deeply, seemed angry and cold, which is understandable, but made me annoyed why she married him and not like him very much.

I thought there was the right balance of character development and plot, any more back story might have been boring and not much happening. Although, a little more drama with the dead could have made it more engaging in parallel to Jeanie’s story. It was a good story but at times I did feel a little underwhelmed and the big reveal at the end seemed a bit ‘oh, is that it?’, ‘and, so?’ There wasn’t much build up and excitement to that particular twist and I wasn’t convinced it would throw too much of a spanner in the works - though it had potential. It was quite a bland story but easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, Sceptre AND Anne Griffin for this book.

Well-written, thought-provoking, and yet sadly for me, underwhelming. I can't put my finger on why, but for some reason I just couldn't engage with this book at all. I struggled to warm to Jeannie, and found her to be a rather shallow and unlikeable character. Her circumstances were interesting, but her 'gift' was almost swept under the carpet while other characters stories were focused on instead. While it was enjoyable enough, it fell short of what I expected based on a very unique and intriguing synopsis, and whilst I'm sure others will love it, for me it just didn't work.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

The premise was interesting but I felt it could have created more intense, exciting scenarios. As it was the book meandered along without making the most of a great idea and the big twist was a bit flat.

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book, I thought from it's description it would be quirky and a bit different, and it certainly was. But it was so much more than that, the characters were well written and real, the setting were well described and interesting, and I loved the main character. I thought the book was beautifully written, and brought a tear to my eye in some parts, not usual for me but the beauty of the writing really moved me .I loved this unusual book and I hope other readers enjoy it as much as I did.

I really enjoyed this. A quirky idea for a story line and great characters that were well written. Definitely highly recommended.

*Many thanks to Anne Griffin, Hodder&Stoughton, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A book about ordinary people who have one special extraordinary skill. The family of Mastertons are undertakers in a small Irish town of Kilcross. The family business is run with respect to the departed, and there is one skill which is rare in the business: they can speak to the dead. They listen to their last thoughts and wishes, and try to fullfil them. The family is going to be handed over to the daughter and her husband and it seems this prompts her to ponder upon her life and her marriage.
A quiet book that kept my attention and Anne Griffin surely does have the talent for writing about choices we make and love we experience.