Introduction

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.

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Discussion Questions

1. Listening Still challenges what we keep from those we care about, how do you think this is portrayed in the book?

2. Jeanie Masterson can hear the dead. How did you feel about this before starting the novel and then while reading it, did your feelings change?


3. Jeanie is hampered by responsibility all of her life, do you think this is reasonable? Do you agree or disagree with her choices because of this burden?


4. How central and important is Mikey, Jeanie’s brother, in the choices Jeanie makes?


5. The structure of the book moves between past and present. Do you feel this adds to your enjoyment of the story? What kind of structure do you most enjoy in a novel? Is there any novel that you feel has the perfect structure?

6. Secondary characters are often key to unraveling the dilemmas within a story. In this book both Arthur and Harry play such a role, do you think these two are convincing?

7. Have you ever experienced a time when you have desperately wanted to love someone as much as they love you but have been unable to, does this help you relate to Jeanie’s struggle in the book?

8. What is it about Marielle that Jeanie can relate to so well? What does she represent to her?

9. There is a cameo appearance from Anne Griffin’s previous novel When All Is Said in Listening Still, was this an enjoyable surprise? What is your opinion on cameo appearances in an author’s work?

10. While Jeanie was in love with Fionn Cassin, she walked away from the chance to be with him, is this understandable? Was Jeanie right to not get out of the car when later in her life, after her engagement to Niall, Fionn arrived home and asked to see her?

11. What do we learn about gender in this book, especially in relation to Harry?

12. Why do you think Jeanie’s mother, Gráinne, never told Jeanie what she knew about Masterson Funeral Directors?

13. How do you imagine Jeanie and Niall’s lives will pan out after the final scene when they begin their walk in the rain?

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