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Listening Still

A Novel

by Anne Griffin

Narrator Nicola Coughlan

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Length 10 hours 3 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“I could not step away from this book. The narration was lovely, and the story was compelling, with more than few surprises along the way. The premise is a good one: At a family-owned and operated funeral home in Ireland, there are a few employees with a special gift -- the ability to speak with the dead. Unlike most stories where select people are able to speak with the dead and constantly hear voices in graveyards and receive unwanted messages, the characters in this story can only speak with the dead for a few minutes until they fully pass on. Gifted with this ability from a very young age, Jeanie Masterson grows into her profession as an undertaker and allows it to guide her future and her choices. As the story progresses, she begins to question what she really wants, and whether or not she should let her ability determine her path in life or follow her own heart.”
— Molly • Scrawl Books

Bookseller recommendation

“A family of Irish undertakers can speak with the dead, and Jeanie Masterson isn't sure if it is a gift or a curse. With all of the humor and heartbreak you might expect from hearing the final thoughts of strangers, this is ultimately a story about living well. Listening Still is beautifully narrated by the fabulous Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton). You'll hang on every lilting word."”
— Meghan • River Bend Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“A quirky and fulfilling story of a young English woman with an amazing gift to speak with the recently dead-- but wait, before you turn away after reading that--it's a warm and hopeful telling of how she navigates her own identity and family relationships while also not letting down the people only she can help. A touch of magical realism makes this book sparkle, and the audiobook is very well done!”
— Jamie • Flyleaf Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Jeanie Masterson talks with the dead, a gift she shares with her mortician father in their village of Kilcross, Ireland. Nicola Coughlin reads Anne Griffin's second novel (following the popular When All Is Said) with the Irish inflection that captures Jeanie's sweet nature as well as an endearing supporting cast of family and friends. At 32, Jeanie is debating giving up her career in the funeral home, leaving the dead with nobody to talk to when Dad retires. How might she be true to herself and her husband Niall, while answering the calls of the recently departed? This delightful, fast-paced novel never becomes maudlin or sad, but is steeped in love.”
— Cheryl • Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza

Summary
About the author

Narrated by Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls)

From Anne Griffin, the bestselling author of When All is Said, comes Listening Still, a refreshing 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 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.

So when Jeanie's parents unexpectedly announce their plan to retire, she is jolted out of her limbo. In this captivating successor to her much-lauded debut, When All Is Said, Anne Griffin portrays a young woman who is torn between duty, a comfortable marriage, a calling she both loves and hates and her last chance to break free. Listening Still is a heartachingly honest look at what we give up and what we gain when we choose to follow our heart.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

Fiction Fiction - Literary

ANNE GRIFFIN’s first novel When All Is Said was a People Magazine Book of the Week and an Indie Next Pick. In the U.K it was a #1 Irish Times bestseller and on the shortlists for the John McGahern Award for Literature, the Hennessey New Irish Writing Award and The Sunday Business Post Short Story Competition. Anne’s work has been featured in The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly. Before becoming a writer, she had an eight-year career as a bookseller at Waterstones. She lives in Ireland with her husband and son.