The All of It [Paperback]

Jeannette Haien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 1987

A sleeper hit when first published in 1986, Jeannette Haien's exquisite, beloved first novel is a deceptively simple story that has the power and resonance of myth. The story begins on a rainy morning as Father Declan de Loughry stands fishing in an Irish salmon stream, pondering the recent deathbed confession of one of his parishioners. Kevin Dennehy and his wife, Enda, have been sweetly living a lie for some 50 years, a lie the full extent of which Father Declan learns only when Enda finally confides "the all of it." Her tale of suffering mesmerizes the priest, who recognizes that it is also a tale of sin and scandal, a transgression he cannot ignore. The resolution of his dilemma is a triumph of strength and empathy that, as Benedict Kiely has said, makes The All of It "a book to remember".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Soaked by a miserable rain, Father Declan de Lowry swats midges and unsuccessfully casts for salmon while mulling the deathbed confession of a parishioner from the tiny Irish village of Roonatellin. The good priest is frantic to know why Kevin Dennehy refused to the end to marry Enda, who lived as his wife for decades with none suspecting their sin. When pressed, Kevin would only say, "there's some explanations that get you nowhere." That leaves it to Enda, an Irish Scheherazade, to breathlessly tell Father "the all of it," a wild, eyebrow-raising tale that meanders like sheep on the narrow roads. Her enthusiasm and Jeannette Haien's musical, evocative phrasing sweep this winning, humorous novel along.

From Library Journal

Within this brief, artfully woven novel are two stories. Kevin and Enda have escaped from their mad father and found refuge in a tiny Irish village, where they live as man and wife. Fifty years later, Kevin's death impels Enda to confess to Father Declan, a world-weary priest who finds his escape in salmon fishing. The moral commitment of the couple, and their devotion to freedom and the natural life, remain in the priest's mind as he struggles through the intricacies of netting a salmon. Haien, an American pianist, entirely captures both the essence of life in the rural west of Ireland and the many shadings of the conflict between official morality and the private compromises we must make to live out our lives. A compact, lyrical gem; one wishes it were longer. Highly recommended. Shelley Cox, Special Collections, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 145 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (December 16, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060971479
• ISBN-13: 978-0060971472
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be mislead by the few low ratings, January 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The All of It (Paperback)

The readers who give this book five (and four) stars have the correct take. Indeed, counting the four other people I know personally who have read the book and delighted in it, the total rating for my entry should be 25 stars. The books I've read that come closest to this one in terms of capturing the psychological atmosphere of the protagonists are Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" and Bausch's "The Last Good Time," although otherwise they have little substantively in common. How a reader could stop after one third of the book and know that the ending was predictable is paradoxical, to say the least. Similarly, to complain that the ending is not lurid enough surely misses the mark. As for its alleged boringness, with what is it being compared -- a James Bond film? Instead, this is a movingly told tale, with exquisitely gentle language, and two characters whose ordinary and not-so-ordinary lives intersect in a moment of revelation that has its own truth simply because of the author's tenderness in handling the plot. This slender novel is an unusual, touching accomplishment that is not soon forgotten.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tale of two readers, October 19, 2000

By 

T. J. Mathews (Livermore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The All of It (Paperback)

It's clear that those who commented on this book either absolutely loved it or absolutely hated it. Those who loved it describe it with such words as "touching", "lyrical" and "beautiful". Those who hate it say it is "boring" and "lacking in suspense".

This should tell you that whether or not you will like this book depends solely on what you like in books. I agree that there isn't much in the way of suspense. That's not the kind of book it is. Its purpose was more to touch the heart in the way great works of art do. In that, it succeeds. I read "The All of It" three years ago and my memory of it now is more in the emotions it engendered and not in the details of the story.

What are you in the mood for? Adventure? Look elsewhere. A look at what is inside people's hearts? You've come to the right place.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book that taps into the inner you, July 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The All of It (Paperback)

While starting to read the book, I wasn't sure that it would do anything for me, in terms of touching me emotionally. After 6 hours, and having completed the book, all I can say is-"WOW! " The book was short but really to the point. Reading it transported me to Ireland into the room where Edna is telling Father Declan the story of her and her "husband". The psychological effect is really phenominal and it is truly artistic the way Jeannette Haien jumps from Father's conversations with Edna and his fishing trip. All the human emotion of the characters and their story has touched my heart and I hope that more people will read this book so that it can touch theirs.