Ask the Author: Anne Griffin
Answered Questions (17)
Anne Griffin
Hi Karen. What a wonderful message to receive. Thank you so much for being so kind about my writing. I am delighted you found THE ISLAND OF LONGING uplifting, it is always a tightrope with subject matter that is difficult. In terms of remaining consistent, it doesn't always feel that way then I'm writing, I'm constantly doubting myself, but I guess the one thing I can say is I love writing engaging characters. Once I can get them right, I usually feel I'm on to a winner. Thank you, Karen, for your continued support. Anne
Anne Griffin
Hey Deb
So sorry to take so long to reply. I have taken sometime out to write my third book, so have been offline for a while. Thank you so much for your kind words about When All Is Said. I think you hit the nail on the head about Maurices's motivation when you suggested it came from his desire to be in control of his life and death - that self determination ruled his life from when he worked for the Dollards and when he lost Tony. And yes, I do have a discussion doc for Book Groups. I have copied it in below.
Thank you so much for getting in touch, Deb.
All my best
Anne
When All Is Said
Discussion Group Questions:
1. What does Maurice regret most in his life? Why do you think this is?
2. How would you describe Maurice and Sadie’s relationship? Is it one you can understand?
3. Why has Thomas Dollard spent his life looking for the lost coin?
4. If Sadie were alive what do you think she might say to Maurice about his regrets?
5. How would you describe the relationship between Maurice and his son Kevin? Is it unusual or typical? Why?
6. Why do you think wealth is important to Maurice? How has his upbringing influenced him?
7. When Maurice visits his son in the U.S., what makes him uncomfortable and why?
8. Why do you think Maurice gives Jason Bruton more money for the sale of the Dollard Land?
9. Who does Maurice trust and why? Why do you think Maurice came to trust Emily?
10. Discuss Hugh and Amelia Dollard’s relationship? Why do you think they stayed together?
11. Why do you think Emily trusted Maurice enough to allow him invest in the business?
12. Maurice tells us why he fell in love with Sadie. But why do you think Sadie fell in love with him?
13. If Maurice could hear Sadie talk to him, just as he hears Molly, what do you think she’d say to him over the course of the evening?
14. Why do you think loneliness in the elderly is an issue society?
15. What epitaph would you write for Maurice Hannigan?
16. Maurice tells the reader his fate at the start of the novel. What effect does this have on you as a reader? How did this impact the way you read the novel?
17. Why do you think Maurice made his final choice? What do you feel about that? What other choices could Maurice have made?
18. Of all of the characters in the book who would you most like to sit down and have a drink with and why?
19. At the end of the night was there anyone or anything that could have changed Maurice’s mind?
So sorry to take so long to reply. I have taken sometime out to write my third book, so have been offline for a while. Thank you so much for your kind words about When All Is Said. I think you hit the nail on the head about Maurices's motivation when you suggested it came from his desire to be in control of his life and death - that self determination ruled his life from when he worked for the Dollards and when he lost Tony. And yes, I do have a discussion doc for Book Groups. I have copied it in below.
Thank you so much for getting in touch, Deb.
All my best
Anne
When All Is Said
Discussion Group Questions:
1. What does Maurice regret most in his life? Why do you think this is?
2. How would you describe Maurice and Sadie’s relationship? Is it one you can understand?
3. Why has Thomas Dollard spent his life looking for the lost coin?
4. If Sadie were alive what do you think she might say to Maurice about his regrets?
5. How would you describe the relationship between Maurice and his son Kevin? Is it unusual or typical? Why?
6. Why do you think wealth is important to Maurice? How has his upbringing influenced him?
7. When Maurice visits his son in the U.S., what makes him uncomfortable and why?
8. Why do you think Maurice gives Jason Bruton more money for the sale of the Dollard Land?
9. Who does Maurice trust and why? Why do you think Maurice came to trust Emily?
10. Discuss Hugh and Amelia Dollard’s relationship? Why do you think they stayed together?
11. Why do you think Emily trusted Maurice enough to allow him invest in the business?
12. Maurice tells us why he fell in love with Sadie. But why do you think Sadie fell in love with him?
13. If Maurice could hear Sadie talk to him, just as he hears Molly, what do you think she’d say to him over the course of the evening?
14. Why do you think loneliness in the elderly is an issue society?
15. What epitaph would you write for Maurice Hannigan?
16. Maurice tells the reader his fate at the start of the novel. What effect does this have on you as a reader? How did this impact the way you read the novel?
17. Why do you think Maurice made his final choice? What do you feel about that? What other choices could Maurice have made?
18. Of all of the characters in the book who would you most like to sit down and have a drink with and why?
19. At the end of the night was there anyone or anything that could have changed Maurice’s mind?
Anne Griffin
Hope you enjoy it, Liz! And thank you so much for buying it.
Anne Griffin
Hi Eileen,
March 2022. I'm afraid it's a bit of a wait but hopefully the time will fly!
All my best
Anne
March 2022. I'm afraid it's a bit of a wait but hopefully the time will fly!
All my best
Anne
Anne Griffin
This is such a wonderful message, Carole. Am deeply touched that Maurice's story has resonated so deeply with you and your family. Thank you so very much for letting me know and making my day.
Anne Griffin
Hi Anna.
It will be out on April 29th of this year, just as in the UK and Ireland. Thanks for getting in touch.
All the best
Anne
It will be out on April 29th of this year, just as in the UK and Ireland. Thanks for getting in touch.
All the best
Anne
Anne Griffin
Hi Leslie Ann
I've been told it should be available in March 2022, fingers crossed! Thanks so much for getting in touch. Apologies for the delay in my reply.
All the best
Anne
I've been told it should be available in March 2022, fingers crossed! Thanks so much for getting in touch. Apologies for the delay in my reply.
All the best
Anne
Anne Griffin
What a lovely message. Thank you so much for your kind words. Am delighted you grew so attached to Maurice, I felt much the same way about him and dithered at times with the ending but felt at the end of the day it was true to him. John McGahern is one of my favourite Irish writers, The Barracks being the book that got inside of me the most. It is thanks to him and other Irish writers such as William Trevor, Anne Enright, Edna O'Brien and Donal Ryan that I have to thank for my love of literature. And therefore it is true to say they have influenced my writing. How observant you are. There are of course other writers that I love who are not Irish: Richard Russo, Jonathan Coe, Ron McLarty, Anne Tyler, Carol Shields and many more. Their talents are all in there somewhere in one way or another. I hope that answers your question. Thank you again for your wonderful comments and for getting in touch. Best wishes, Peter.
Anne Griffin
It would be to any of the towns featured in the works of Richard Russo. I'd grab a coffee and spend my time eavesdropping on all of the characters' hilarious and heartbreaking conversations!
Anne Griffin
Good morning Alessia,
What a wonderful endorsement. Thank you so much for your kind post. I am indeed working on a second novel but can't unfortunately give you a definite answer as to when it will be available. But will post up when there is anything specific to report. Thanks again, Alessia, am so thrilled the book has been received well in Ontario!
Best wishes
Anne
What a wonderful endorsement. Thank you so much for your kind post. I am indeed working on a second novel but can't unfortunately give you a definite answer as to when it will be available. But will post up when there is anything specific to report. Thanks again, Alessia, am so thrilled the book has been received well in Ontario!
Best wishes
Anne
Anne Griffin
Hi Huso,
Great question. I actually didn't have any difficulty with this. And I hope I pulled it off. Maurice's voice came to me so strongly that it never occurred to me that it might be something I really had to work at. I could hear his voice very clearly in my head as I wrote. It wasn't until after I finished it and had a publication deal that people started to ask that question and only then I realised that perhaps it was a slightly unusual thing to do. But I think once the voice is strong enough in your head it doesn't matter if it is a different gender from you, at least that's how it feels for me. I often write in a male voice and really enjoy it. I equally enjoy writing in a woman's voice. Here's the thing, I guess once I understand the characters motivation in life, I can get in there and really get them expressing themselves. Hope that answers it, Huso. Many thanks. Anne
Great question. I actually didn't have any difficulty with this. And I hope I pulled it off. Maurice's voice came to me so strongly that it never occurred to me that it might be something I really had to work at. I could hear his voice very clearly in my head as I wrote. It wasn't until after I finished it and had a publication deal that people started to ask that question and only then I realised that perhaps it was a slightly unusual thing to do. But I think once the voice is strong enough in your head it doesn't matter if it is a different gender from you, at least that's how it feels for me. I often write in a male voice and really enjoy it. I equally enjoy writing in a woman's voice. Here's the thing, I guess once I understand the characters motivation in life, I can get in there and really get them expressing themselves. Hope that answers it, Huso. Many thanks. Anne
Anne Griffin
John Boyne is a superb writer. He inspires me to write good compelling stories. I hope if you get the chance you might find 'When All Is Said' to be the kind of book that you want to curl up with of an evening. Thank you so much for getting in touch.
Anne Griffin
That's when I read. Read for as long as it takes me to get through whatever issue is at hand. I often mull things over as I drop off to sleep, hoping that somehow the answer will come to me in my dreams, it rarely has. But I like to think the question has seeped so deeply into my inner conscious, working hard to find the answer, that when I least expect it, for example when I'm stuck at traffic lights, the answer appears!
Anne Griffin
Starting with a blank page and not knowing where you might end up!
Anne Griffin
Read, read, read. Learn from other writers. Watch how their plots move, how their characters develop. They are your best teachers. Then write. Write as often as you can, if only for ten minutes. You may not always have time and that's OK, lives are busy and stressful, but try to find ways to carve out the time. And remember, and I cannot impress this enough, writing is primarily about re-writing, get comfortable with editing, it is the key to your masterpiece.
Anne Griffin
What inspires me to write is reading other writers. I love good writing and cannot get enough of writers such as Richard Russo, Anne Tyler, John Boyne, Donal Ryan, Carol Shields, Jonathan Coe, Sebastian Barry, Ron McLarty, Alice Hoffman, to name but a tiny few. Through their writing I am energised. They teach me how to write better and deeper, exploring all it is to be human.
Anne Griffin
I was on a cycling holiday in the west of Ireland and one evening happened into a rural hotel. There at the bar was an old man I began to chat to. As he was readying to leave to talk to another couple who had entered the bar he turned to me and said: "But you know I won't see the morning" and walked away. I was astounded. I needed to know why he would have said that, but it was too late to ask. The next day on the last leg of our cycling trip, I wrote the story of Maurice Hannigan, a cantankerous, single-minded, successful Irish farmer, who finds himself at the bar of his local hotel on a very significant evening of his life. There he grapples with all he has been: his triumphs, his failures, his flaws, his loves, his losses. Over five hours, five toasts and five stories we end up moving closer to solving the mystery of Maurice's Hannigan's life and just what will happen come midnight.
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