Publisher: 27th April 2021 by Hachette Australia
Pages: 342 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: fiction, contemporary
My Rating: 4 cups
Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of When All is Said comes a delicious new novel about a young woman who can hear the dead - a talent which is both a gift and a curse.
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. She and her father have worked happily alongside each other for years, but now he's unexpectedly announced that he wants to retire early and leave the business to her and her life is called into question.
Does she really want to be married to the embalmer, or does she want to be with her childhood sweetheart, off in London? Does she want to have children, and pass this gift on to them? And does she want to be stuck in this small town, or is there more of the world she wants to see - like the South of France, where she's discovered a woman who shares her gift?
Tied to her home by this unusual talent, she begins to question: what if what she's always thought of as a gift is a curse?
My Thoughts
‘ .. the real issue here was not who you should have loved more, or who you should have run away with, but simply who it is you are and what it is you really want to do with your life.’
Slowly, but surely, I came onboard with this book. If you give it the time, by its conclusion, you will come to appreciate how well written it is. Thoughtfully touching on a range of issues - everything from family expectations to lost opportunities. However for me, this was all about the choices we make in life and having the courage to listen to your own heart for your life purpose.
‘I remember thinking then, why weren’t we braver, we Humans? Why hadn’t we the courage to tell it like it was when alive? Why did we let fear haunt us, silence us?’
This book neatly weaves in reflective questions on life. Lead character, Jeanie, puts her life under the microscope and reflects on possible missed opportunities and where best to proceed for her future. The whole ‘listening to the dead’, whilst interesting in its own right, is only a medium for Jeanie’s introspection in my opinion. It all comes to a head when her parents announce their imminent retirement, leaving the business to Jeanie - the burden of listening will now all fall on her shoulders. Is this role, as much as she regards its importance, what her life was meant to be about? What has she foregone because of this role? How does her family, husband and friends all fit into her landscape?
‘Perhaps if there’d been others in this business who could hear the dead too, it might have felt less hard, less burdensome, less lonely. Perhaps if it was simply a normal part of what every funeral director in Ireland offered as a service, like an optional extra for which there was a charge: ‘And would you like the “talking to your loved one” package with that?’
I truly relished taking the journey of discovery with Jeanie, who up until this point, had not truly contemplated another role in life for herself. Always doing what was expected of her, has the time now come to branch out or is she permanently tied to this ‘gift’ of hers? Is it now too late to follow what had once been her dreams?
“… I know what the place does to you. I know you love it, but it takes its toll. Just because you love a job doesn’t mean it isn’t a burden either. You think Obama woke up every day thinking, “I’m so glad I’m president of America''.
Tied into this are many other sub themes such as, is telling people what they want/need to hear wrong? To what lengths should you go to spare another’s pain? How much of your life should be led for others? How can we attain purpose and meaning in what we do? When is leaving the best/only option? Don’t get me wrong, this is not a heavy book but rather one person’s journey of self discovery and I believe the author has cleverly achieved that through the various plotlines.
"I’d always wondered what it would be like to lead a completely different life. But if I finally left now to chase that dream and Dad retired, well, that would be it for the dead, no one left to hear them. I was the last one you see, the last listener of the dead, the line ended with me.”
Listening Still is sure to impact readers in different ways. However, credit to Anne Griffin for writing such a considered story about listening to and finding our unique path in life, having the courage to pursue your course, believing that you are being true to yourself in doing so.
‘What it was that drove her, dampened her, and yes, if I’m honest, delighted her, entangled as I was in a world I both loved and feared, my heart torn between so many who needed me, as I needed them.’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
No comments:
Post a Comment