As a romance novel, this is OK, but it wasn’t at all the kind of story I was hoping for, having enjoyed Anne Griffin’s first book so much. I guess Jeanie’s special gift of being able to hear and speak to the recently deceased gives us some poignant moments when people reveal things they really should have spoken about when they had time, but it does feel terribly contrived. Jeanie herself is just so annoying. Having been told all her life how special she is, she is torn between following the love of her life to London, the big city where she wouldn’t shine so brightly, or staying in her home town in rural Ireland and feeling indispensable. What is she to do? Who is she going to hurt in the process?

Some good writing, as I expected, but I couldn’t engage with the characters or their situations. Not for me and not a book I’d particularly recommend.

Listening Still is the beautiful story of Jeanie Masterson and her gift of being able to listen to and speak to the dead soon after their passing and pass on any last wishes or secrets that they may have failed to pass on in life.

My daughter in law is the daughter of an undertaker in an Irish town and if I’m honest that (and the unusual gift) is what attracted me to the book. I do also love books set in Ireland, the Irish dialect and their sense of humour.

I had no expectation of how much I was going to absolutely adore this book. It was an utter joy to read. I love the characters of Jeanie, her parents and especially her best friend Peanut who has a wicked sense of humour. The characters are so believable, not perfect, flawed in the ways all of us are and I liked them all. The story behind Jeanie’s marriage to her childhood best friend, I’m sure will be one that will resonate with lots of people, as will the story of ‘the one who got away’ - another pretty common but not often explored topic. This book made me think, made me laugh, made me sob and made me take some time out of my day just to contemplate.

It’s superbly written and captured me right from the start. It’s my first book by Anne Griffin and it won’t be my last. I love that she doesn’t idealise life or personalities or the ending of her book - there isn’t always a perfect ending in life and love and it’s lovely to find an author brave enough to embrace that.

I’ve already recommended this book to my family members and I will continue to extol it to anyone who I think will enjoy it! Congratulations Anne Griffin - great job!

My thanks go to the author, to NetGalley and to the publishers for an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review!

I thought this book was going to be something else to be honest.
I was expecting to be gripped by her talking to the dead etc but there didn't seem to be much of that.
In fairness I gave up after an hour as it wasn't going on the direction I'd like.

It's more about relationships, childhood memories etc.

I'm sure it would be great for someone who is looking for a book like that and it was well written.

It just wasn't for me.

Jeanie Masterson has a gift: she can hear the last words of the dead. Passed down from generation to generation, this gift means she is able to make wrongs right, to give voice to unspoken love and dying regrets.

This book has so many layers to it, it is so much more than the description! The last thing I could imagine is picking up a book about someone in a funeral home with everything going on - and I am a nurse. This book contains empathy, heartwarming moments, moments that make you laugh and some that can make you cry. The author has done really well, the cover is lovely, clear and appealing, it would make me pick it up in a book shop.

Listening Still by Anne Griffin
This book is about Jeanie Masterson, an undertaker who can hear the final words of the dead. This book focuses on whether this gift is a blessing or a curse and so much more besides.
Jeanie's parents are retiring from the undertaker business and Jeanie finds herself at a crossroads in life wondering if she should continue in the business and focus on her gift or live her life in a different way.
I wouldn't normally go for a book about undertakers but Anne Griffin writes so beautifully that I was drawn in straight away and loved this tender and heartbreaking book. Every character is believable and brings so much to the story, I particularly loved the side characters of Arthur and Harry. There are many issues dealt with in this book; friendship, first love, marriage, grief and destiny and I was fully invested in them all.
I loved Anne Griffins first book When All is Said so had high expectations for this book and I was not disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a book that will leave you wanting more, with fully rounded and believable characters that are perfectly written. This was a really enjoyable read and I highly recommend you add it you to basket right away!

If I had to sum this book up in one word it would be ‘exquisite’.
I absolutely adored ‘When All Is Said’ written by the author back in 2019 and I’ve recommended it to anyone who will listen to me, so I’d feared this would not live up to my expectations, but I needn’t have worried. This book is just beautiful.. The story moves between the present day and the growing up and rites of passage of Jeanie, a woman who from an early age who can hear the dead. It’s full of emotion, dealing with death, loss, love, truth, lies, family expectations and secrets, but there’s humour too and a lovely Irishness. There is a great portrayal of small town Ireland and how it’s evolved, to allow its citizens more options in life. I read this book in one sitting, I loved all the characters the story and my heart leapt at the nod to the first book When All Is Said. This book made me laugh and sob and after I’d finished it I sat and reflected on it for a long time. I suspect I’llhave a book hangover from this for some time to come.

Listening Still tells the story of Jeanie Masterson, a girl with a gift passed down through the generations of her family – hearing the final words of the dead.

I have to start by saying how much I absolutely adored this book! It was a beautifully written, thought-provoking story exploring a variety of issues from parental expectations and family pressure, to lost love, self-discovery and having the courage to make your own life choices.

Anne Griffin also highlights the beauty and magic of conversing with the recently deceased, while balancing it against the struggles of people’s reactions to the gift and the challenge of deciding how much to pass on to the loved ones left behind.

The story has humour (lifelong friendships and shared experiences), heartbreak (of lives that could have been) and love (both actual family and the family we choose). I particularly loved characters such as Arthur and Ffion, who brought real heart to the book.

It made me tearful in places and I definitely needed a quiet moment to reflect after turning the final page. A highly recommended read and one I can’t wait to purchase a physical copy of when it is released!

A truly amazing account of people who are able to commune with the dead soon after they actually die.This ‘gift’ is explored through the novel and although you may have been sceptical about the existence of this ability the novel really draws you in so that it does not seem an exceptional ability for those who possess it. The main protagonists of the novel are a family caller the Mathersons who are Funeral directors in a small Irish town who specialise in telling relatives about what the dead have said after they have passed away.It may be a piece of family history,it may be a dark secret which they want to bring to light now they are dead,it may be a simple expression of their love for family members.Whatever the message may be some of the Matherson clan have the ability to act as the go betweens between the living and recently deceased..You can almost believe that the ability to do this is real by the end of the novel.Certainly some of the scenarios are really believable.As you read on you are drawn into the world of the dead and their ability to have such an impact on those they have left behind.This novel gave me food for thought about what should be said amongst family members while everyone is alive to hear it or react to it.I realise that there are so many secrets which are hidden between close relatives and friends which are not actually healthy.Read the novel and it will make you consider things which you have never considered before.

Jeanie speaks to the dead. The concept is that when you die, you are able to communicate telepathically with a living person with the gift to hear you but only for a short while after your death. You might want to pass on messages of love or important information about your belongings, or take revenge on someone by getting your feelings off your no longer breathing chest. Jeanie’s family runs an undertakers’ business and so she is ideally placed for these conversations.

No, I don’t believe in this concept but it’s just one layer of the book. Essentially it’s the story of Jeanie’s life so far. At 32, she has come to a crossroads in her marriage and in her life and the story we’re told is the background of how she met the loves of her life and the course of events that followed. I really enjoyed it for perhaps 80% of the whole but I then found myself not caring a hoot what decisions Jeanie made or what the consequences would be. I was underwhelmed by the family secret too when it was revealed.

There are parts of the book that are very touching but Griffin’s first book, When All Is Said, moved me far more. I thought it was a lovely touch to have Maurice appear briefly in this book. The story of Jeanie’s marriage read like chick lit towards the end which is not to demean chick lit but it’s really not my thing. On the whole, I enjoyed reading this and I’ll look forward to Griffin’s next book as I like her writing style but it left me glad to have finished it which is not what I was expecting.

Such an unusual book, and I am delighted I had the opportunity to read it via an ARC from Hodder and NetGalley. My opinions are my own. I started reading not really knowing what to expect and was hooked by the premise, the warmth of the characters and the Irish village. The background was beautifully written, and a Funeral Directors that receive messages from the newly deceased-wow! There is a quandary, should the messages be passed on even if they are not what those left behind would want to hear, or should they be more palatable?
This is also Jeanie’s story, told in the present and the past and I really felt for her. I was actually sad to reach the end, having really enjoyed it.

Wow I totally loved this book! Have literally just finished it and I’m still wanting more! An interesting storyline, very believable and with really strong characters. I loved Jeannie and Niall and all the other characters that made this book such a wonderful read! I enjoyed Anne’s first book a lot but this one really blew me away! Thank you

I received an advanced reader copy of Listening Still from NetGalley and @HodderBooks and @HodderPublicity with thanks. All opinions are my own.

Listening Still grabbed me from the first page and was difficult to put down. The main protagonist Jeanie can hear dead people, there is a small window just after someone dies where they are still able to communicate with those who have the gift of hearing and it is this premise that the novel is based.

This novel meanders between present day and Jeanie’s youth, in some books I find this narrative style frustrating, but here it doesn’t detract from the flow of the book and it is easy to follow. The characters and relationships are tender and believable, Jeanie’s relationship with her parents and her Aunt Harry with hints of a hidden secret; her friends; her childhood sweetheart Fion and steady and reliable Niall all weave together in a messy reality in which we can all find something to relate to.

There are hints of the male domination in Ireland in the mid 1900s and how this has impacted on present day, with tendrils of this creeping through the novel. Personally I would have liked to see a little more of this and that would have made it a five star read, but this is a new and exciting voice in fiction, which I will be watching keenly for future reads.

Normally a book set in a funeral directors is the last thing I would pick up, but there was something about the cover, the picture of the sea that drew me in and I am so glad, this is a beautiful book, emotive, sensitive and wise, a story about hope and love and how we should all remember that we are never promised tomorrow

The Masterton family have enjoyed great success in their profession as undertakers in their little Irish village. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they can communicate with the recently departed. The last wishes of the dearly departed are always granted and their families take great comfort in that. Jeanie inherited her family “gift” but fled to London to get away from the often unsettling thoughts and wishes she hears. There she settled into a new life and a sometimes happy marriage, but news of her parents imminent retirement leaves Jeanie in a quandary . Does she stay in a marriage that sometimes stifles her, or return to the life she ran away from? Griffin’s novel is so beautifully written, so lovely. I have recommended this book to everyone I know, there is simply nothing else like it

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

funeral directors with a twist..they get messages from the dead....and thats what pulled me into this book...how fascinating...

on the whole this book was fascinating, but there is a lot of background story about their lives.. but i really loved the idea of the dead speaking and them passing on messages be it good or bad....

the storyline was very fluidly and the characters were believeable

will be interested in reading more from this author