The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Griffin, Anne. When All is Said. Thomas Dunne Books, March 5, 2019. Kindle.

In the novel When All is Said by Anne Griffin, Maurice Hannigan, an 84-year-old Irish farmer tells the story of his life through a series of five toasts. Maurice’s wife, Sadie, has been dead for two years and Maurice has decided he is too lonely and afraid to continue living without her. He finishes putting his affairs in order and tries to make reparations for his past mistakes through the course of this final night.

Maurice first toasts his older brother, Tony. Tony died of consumption when Maurice was 16 years of age. Tony was Maurice’s hero. He encouraged and supported Maurice through his troubles in school and his conflicts with Thomas Dollard, the son of Maurice’s employer. The story about Tony’s life incorporates Maurice’s abuse at the hands of Thomas. Maurice began working for the Dollards when he was 10. Because Maurice overheard Hugh Dollard, Thomas’ father, belittle Thomas, Thomas took his frustration out on Maurice. One day Thomas hit Maurice with a riding crop, cutting Maurice’s face badly enough that it left a scar. In retaliation, Maurice picked up a coin that Thomas dropped out a window as Thomas claimed to his father that he had not taken the coin. Hugh disinherited Thomas because he lost the coin. At the time, Maurice did not know that the coin was one of seven minted in honor of Edward III’s coronation and was worth a good deal of money. As an adult, Thomas continued to get revenge on the Dollard family by buying their land at cheap prices as the family’s wealth dwindled.

Maurice’s second toast it to his stillborn daughter, Molly. Maurice tells Kevin that he blames his greed for Molly’s death because he went to take care of a farm deal instead of taking Sadie to the doctor when she said she thought something was wrong with the baby. Molly’s story incorporates Maurice’s decision to invest in the hotel opened by the Dollard family in the house where Maurice had once worked. When Maurice met Emily, the daughter of Jason and Hilary Bruton, descendants of Hugh, Emily fit the image that Maurice had of Molly if she had lived. Emily’s father, Jason, had just died. When Emily realized who Maurice was, she told him that her family hated him because he had bought all their property so cheaply. Emily also admitted that her mother wanted nothing to do with the hotel and she had been called to decide what to do with it. When she admitted that the family was deep in debt, Maurice became a silent partner, giving her the money she needed to keep the hotel running.

Years later, the lawyer notified Maurice that Emily wanted to meet with him in person. Maurice refused to take the profit-sharing check Emily tried to give him. He asked her to tell him the story of how Hugh had come to have the Edward III coin. Emily explained that Hugh had been given the coin by one of Edward’s footmen as repayment for a gambling debt.

Maurice’s third toast is to Noreen, his wife’s mentally and emotionally disabled sister. Maurice believes that Noreen performed a miracle when she took to him so quickly. Sadie’s father had disapproved of Maurice before Noreen’s reaction to him, afterward, Sadie’s father accepted him. It was Noreen’s obsession with coins that allows Maurice to incorporate more of the story of the coin into her toast. One day while at Sadie and Maurice’s house, Noreen found the coin that Maurice had stolen from Thomas. She became infatuated with it and snuck it out of the house one day when they went to eat at the Dollard’s hotel. Thomas happened to be there as well. He had a coin identical to Noreen’s. Noreen took Thomas’ coin which he was showing off and bragging about, which caused a fuss until Maurice worked a deal with Noreen to give it back. In the meanwhile, Maurice learned from Emily that Thomas had used his ex-wife’s inheritance to buy a coin identical to the one he had lost. The family was in debt because they had to borrow money to keep the ex-wife from suing Thomas.

Maurice’s fourth toast is to his son, Kevin. Maurice had hoped for a son who would take after him and work the farm. Instead, Kevin wanted to be a journalist, a career that took him to the United States to find a job. Maurice tells Kevin that he wishes he had been a better father to him. Maurice also details in this chapter his decision to give Thomas’ coin back to Emily and her reaction to the discovery Maurice had it all along. Emily gives it to her Uncle Thomas, who is suffering with pneumonia. He becomes distressed and suffers a heart attack when he sees it.

Maurice’s fifth toast is to his wife, Sadie. Maurice believes that Sadie was the best thing to happen to him, but remembers too many times that he took her for granted. He tells Kevin that the purpose of that evening was to try to make amends to Sadie for all the times he had broken promises and disappointed her. Maurice learns a final secret hidden by the Dollard family in this section of the novel. Hugh is not Thomas’ biological father. Thomas was born as the result of an affair between Amelia and Timothy, Hugh’s younger brother. Hugh knew he was not Thomas’ father and hated him from the time he was born. Thomas was blamed for everything that went wrong in the family.

Hilary, Emily’s mother, approaches Maurice the night he is performing his toasts and asks him to force Emily to sell the hotel to him. Hilary overheard the conversation between Maurice and Emily when Maurice offered to become a partner in the hotel. Hilary did not step forward and stop the deal because she was too grieved over the loss of her husband and did not want to leave the business he had loved so much. As time has passed, Hilary believes she has forced Emily into a life that makes Emily unhappy. When Maurice discusses the hotel with Emily, however, Emily tells him that the hotel has made her the woman that she has become. She believes she has done her father proud.

Finally, Maurice walks upstairs to the honeymoon suite where he plans to take an overdose of pills. He dances around the room, pretending he is dancing with Sadie and replays the scenes of their life together in his mind. He records a message to Kevin telling him how much he loves and respects him even though he was never able to say so face to face. After Maurice has taken the pills he calls out to Sadie, asking if he can come home.