Jeannette HaienReseñas

Written in 1986, this novel burns with a subtle flame.

Loved this book. Could have done without the fly fishing storyline. I know what it was supposed to represent, but it fell flat for me. Perhaps that is because the rest of the story was marvelous and I kept wanting to get back to it.

The All of It, is Enda's tale, told after the death of Kevin, her husband. She tells her and Kevin's story to the parish priest while Kevin lays dead. Her story is about two young people and love but not as you would expect. The priest is gripped by her story but struggles to know what to do, as it is also a story of sin. The next day he is fishing on a wet day and this gives him a chance to think. This novel, set in Ireland, spans the years from before motor cars to nearer the present day. It is a short novel and an enthralling read.½

The title refers to Enda Dennehy's "come clean" tale told to her priest Father Declan just after her husband's deathbed confession. While this sounds dramatic and sordid, it is more a story of love and devotion, though less in the traditional marital sense. It also reveals Fr. Declan's own character as he initially tries to treat this a case for the confessional and traditional absolution, but Enda isn't having it. He becomes enthralled by her story and manner of telling and has a bit of inner turmoil about upholding his priestly duties and decorum, but is so in need of honesty and the removal of the barriers that his cloth and collar create. Endorsed winningly with an introduction by Ann Patchett, this book is a nice find and the Irishness of it is engaging. "A quiet little stunner" was a good blurb of praise and piqued my interest.

A short, sweet tale of a rural Irish priest who discovers that sometimes his faith doesn't give clear answers for all that happens to his parishioners. When a member of his flock dies, the widow, Enda, tells Father Declan an astonishing story of their life together, forcing Declan to rethink some of the certainties upon which he has always relied. Delightful.

Lovely short novel with all the best ingredients: mid-'80s Ireland, a priest and a funeral, complicated love, rainy weather, and fishing—which all come together in a deeply satisfying tale about the forms unexpected good fortune can take. Some really beautiful writing, as well. Recommended to anyone with a soft spot for any of the above.½

A stunning short novel about a moral dilemma and its resolution, a beautiful story, beautifully told.½

Sweet and deep at the same time. A small story, well told, of innocence, desire, longing. And fishing.

One of the books on the "recommended reading" list I received from Ann Patchett at this year's ALA conference. The analogy of wrestling with the fish and wrestling with emotions (especially the forbidden kind) was an exceptional way to capture the core of this story.

I found the story intriguing and a bit disturbing. (Isn't that what everyone's story is?) I came away unsettled, with questions about how God allows some things and how He handles what I would call "sticky situations." Reminds me somehow of my reaction to Andrew Greeley's book "God Game" many years ago.

I don't recall where I came across a reference to this book. Short, simple story with emotional impact.

lovely atmosphere, sweet story. Shades of River Runs Through It. Quick read, good for a rainy day.

Heard about this from a trusted source as one of those fabulous quiet gems. Not so much.

Just the kind of book I like, short and excellent, very well written, and about life, without over-dramatization. Plus the added aspect of reading about another culture is always interesting.

The slim novel doesn’t even clock in at 150 pages; it’s almost more of a novella. Set in Ireland, the book tells the story of a man confessing to his priest on his death bed. He tells the priest he has a secret but before he can unburden himself he passes and it’s left to his wife Edna to tell the “all of it” to the priest. What unfolds in the following pages tugs at the heart and mind in powerful ways. Through the priest we find ourselves in the role of both friend and confessor to the dying man and Edna.

The story is brief, but it packs a punch. It makes you think about your feelings on guilt and judgment and second guess your initial reaction. You question the role circumstances play in our lives. It’s an odd book, a whirlwind of information that leaves you processing it for days.

BOTTOM LINE: Short but powerful; this intimate story is one of survival. Find a copy if you get a chance!

"Dead faces," she said whitely, "they're all the same. They don't, I mean, tell of the person as they were alive."

"... in this life it's best to keep the then and now and the what's-to-be as close together in your thoughts as you can. It's when you let the gaps creep in, when you separate out the intervals and dwell on them, that you can't bear the sorrow."½

My sister-in-law, Suzanne, surprised me with this slender, rich novel, knowing my love for things Irish. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter gift. Lush, evocative language flows from every page, written in a beautiful Irish lilt. On his deathbed, Kevin tells Father Declan a shocking secret, but dies before he can explain. It falls to Enda to tell Father Declan "the all of it" - her life story with Kevin - which she does with pride and stark honesty. Father is torn between his priestly vows and friendship for Enda and Kevin as he listens to the tale of their harsh upbringing and subsequent happiness. He wrestles with his feelings and his conscience as he fishes for salmon the day after Kevin's funeral, stubbornly refusing to quit despite the miserable weather and poor river conditions. The author deftly portrays "the fullness of an angler's desiring" in detailed prose that reads like stream-of-consciousness as Father Declan: "...recalled the times in his life when he'd fished well through midge-ridden days in weather even meaner than this, and how, adroitly, Nature had put her claim on him and made him one with the very ground at his feet, and how, with every cast, past the gleaming green reeds of the shoreline shallows, he'd projected himself towards a specific spot in the river's very heart, a different shading in the water that was like a quality of seriousness, or at a laze in the current's glide, some felt allurement of expectation which became (ah, fated fish), the focused haven of his energy." Now, in a quandary of misery over his harsh words to Enda, today's fishing, and his own feelings, are hopeless.
Haien writes eloquently of Kevin and Enda's joy in the simple life: "... you'd see them, in all weather, sailing on their bicycles down the long hill into Roonatellin to do their week's marketing. They always rode right alongside each other like gleeful, strong children, their heads high and their faces lit in a transport of excitement as the wheels of their bikes rolled faster and faster. The sun on them or rain, or a switch of wind whipping them - it didn't matter - they exuded some high, terribbly intense, obliterating joy..." She echoes my own love of the sea and birds in her characters' excitement: "...whatever variety and lift there'd been to our days had come from the sea, the clouds blown in and the storms and fogs, and then those grand days of a bright sun and wind that'd make us feel like lambs, running..." And Father Declan claiming: "But for charm, it's curlews. And at Leegan's Head, have you noticed too, how tame the land-birds are? The tits and whinchats? I had one land on my head one day." Just like the friendly chickadee that landed on my hand as a child in Connecticut. And more on birds, and how they both excite and bring peace: Father Declan "...saw a kestrel sitting in the drench of the sky and thought of Kevin - of his tame, envying fondness for the wild, unlimited creature." And he felt "... a sense of relationship to the immutable in nature, and, in the soothe of the perspective, he felt himself growing calm." I, too, feel the calmness that nature, in its sometimes unchanging character, brings to a troubled mind or heart.
Kevin and Enda "...both had the same fierce want..." to live contentedly by the sea; the same fierce want David and I have for Lopez Island. In such as this, I feel a part of the story.
I also love learning new and unusual words, which Haien supplied in: "nethered" ("At the sound of her voice, nethered and intense and richly compelling...") meaning lowered, and "gallimaufry" (a confused jumple of things).
This is a novel to be savored again, and to learn something new from at each reading. My thanks and respect to Jeanette Haien for her exceptional story.

This is a lovely, subtle book about hard work, relationships, loneliness and fishing. Highly recommended.

Book Club Selection December 2011.........Foreword by Ann Patchett!?........What a gem of a novella! No wonder Ann Patchett calls it one of her favorites! The Irish tale of right and wrong with a twist. Find yourself swept up in the story of Enda, Kevin, and Father Declan. Solitude, love, salmon fishing, loyalty, and compassion...what more could anyone ask for?

Beautifully-told, gripping story. Reads like a play.

A compelling, old fashioned, narrative novel rich in detail which stretches from the late 30s to 1960.The characters are complex and richly drawn, albeit a bit too manipulated in certain contexts. The author's language is a definite plus, setting a charming rhythm; when necessary, she simply invents words. Love is a dominant element: between husband and wife, between good friends, between parents and children. The only quibble concerns a stream in culture in which it is the wealthy who command such detailed attention. The decisions the characters come to, the purchases they so blithely make, the choices they have, the sense of a deep, strong, wide foundation permeates the work. Most people do not enjoy such freedom from want: should I purchase this mansion or that, should I send my daughters to Bryn Mawr or Smith (certainly without the unseemly concept of financial aid!). I'll go on Cunard, I'll live on Fifth Avenue and 73rd Street, I'll make sure my daughters approve of the cook I hire; we should all have such good fortune. Which is not to say that the characters are immune from the same fates as those with less resources. All in all, a fine read.

This is a well-written novel that describes WWII and its aftermath for one couple in Ohio who adopt twin girls shortly before Morgan, the husband, leaves to serve in the military. Jeannette Haien fully develops the main characters so their strengths and weaknesses are clearly perceived by the reader. They endure challenges, joy and sorrow, which we share because we know them well by the book's conclusion. The style is reminiscent of the courtly prose of Reynolds Price, and resonates with qualities of honor, empathy and character.

This was a surprisingly good little novel (I picked up, put down, and ultimately picked back up and bought for a dollar at a library used book sale), full of the realities of life and the various humans' struggles with morality, as they see it. It unfolds delightfully, from the perspective of Father Declan, who hears a very startling twist on what he thought was the reality about a quiet married couple in his village, Edna and Kevin. The story begins upon Kevin's death and Edna's narrative of what their lives were like, and the violence that shaped their respite. This is a book that sticks with you, makes you re-think some of those blind "moral" bases we all have, and ultimately suffer from, disallowing us to really hear someone else's story. Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy Irish fiction, as it is rich in the sights, sounds and way of life from the Irish countryside.½

Lyrical language demonstrates the power of conversation and true listening and contrasts with the experience of salmon fishing. (This sounds odd but it works).