As It Is in Heaven [Hardcover]

Niall Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

Time has already stopped for Stephen Griffin when he moves into the little house by the sea. Twenty-eight years old and haunted by death, the tall, awkward, shy schoolteacher is Content to care for his father in Dublin and let life pass him by.

Then a miracle appears: a string ensemble from Venice and, with it, a violinist named Gabriella Castoldi. Even though the worldly, beautiful musician seems incapable of giving her heart, love seizes Stephen Griffin ... unbidden and shaking every particle of his spirit.

Stephen's ailing father sees it and fears for his naive son. Nelly Grant, the green-grocer, predicted it and welcomes its sheer joy. Moses Mooney, the blind musician, has sensed its coming. None, however, can envision the depth and consequence of this union. For Gabriella will change not only Stephen's life but, in the deepest sense, the lives of everyone around them.

"As It Is In Heaven" evokes the magical essence of romance and its miraculous ability to grace even the darkest lifewith light. Splendidly crafted and charged with poignancy, it firmly establishes Niall Williams as a master storyteller in the grand tradition of Irish literature.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It seems right that the lovers in Niall Williams's As It Is in Heaven hail from Italy and Ireland, those sentimental favorites among nations. Williams won kudos and laurels, fans and fame for his first novel, Four Letters of Love, and his second finds him once again illuminating a simple love affair with his own special brand of fine and even brave mawkishness. Dubliner Stephen Griffin, though possessed of a "thin and long" body, is stunted emotionally by the loss of his mother and sister in a tragic car wreck. That is, until one evening he ends up at a tiny concert hall in County Clare, listening to the Venetian beauty Gabriella Castoldi play the violin. Williams writes with fairy-tale breathlessness of the audience: "The room was balmy with delight. And when the people sat again for the slow and romantic melancholy of the Puccini, they were pillowed on a deep and heartfelt gladness.... Stephen looked at the woman whose name he did not yet know and his heart raced." Such mauvish passages abound. Here is an author who never met a bold pronouncement on the subject of Love that he didn't, well, Love. At one point, for instance, Stephen "heard the victory of Love over Death." What makes Williams's writing work--to the degree that it does work--is the way his fuzzy, myopic generalizations are coupled with keen observation: "Stephen danced like a man who had been given wooden legs. They flew out in sharp angles and measured air like a pair of pincers." A stack of suitcases is "an Italian hilltown." At its best, this gentle magical realism reads like Mark Helprin without the irony. And like Helprin, Williams is in thrall to the glamour of geography. Stephen and Gabriella pursue each other through Clare and Kerry to Venice and back. The course of true love never did run smooth, but the bumps here prove none too discouraging. --Claire Dederer

From Publishers Weekly

Williams, a gifted Irish writer, was known only for nonfiction until his first novel Four Letters of Love reaped a chorus of praise (including a PW Best Books accolade) a couple of years ago. Now he has tried to repeat the trick, but unfortunately the freshness that leaped from the pages has become mere practiced calculation. His hero, Stephen Griffin, is a dim young man declining into premature senility as a history teacher, whose life is transformed by the rather improbable arrival of a beautiful but deeply unhappy young Italian violinist, Gabriella Castoldi, to play a concert at a little West Ireland hotel. Griffin is struck dumb with passion; since symptoms of magic realism abound, smells of white lilies and a general glowing aura convince those around him he is in love. Gabriella, emerging from an unhappy affair, decides to stay on in Ireland; Griffin meets her again and they have a fling; she goes back to Venice and finds she is pregnant; he follows but cannot find her; she comes back; finally, they carry out the wishes of an old blind seafarer (shades of Under Milk Wood's Captain Cat) and build a beautiful little music school by the sea. Williams is a felicitous phrasemaker, and he conjures up some lovely poetic images of weather and seascapes. Passages about the ineffable beauty of music and the emotional impact it can have are touching. But the sense of delighted surprise that was so constant in Letters is notably absent; the story is far more rigidly structured, and the characters, from Stephen's poor dad dying of cancer and trying to give his money away, to a chirpy lady who keeps a greengrocer shop and knows what fruits to sell for all ills of the heart, are tired clich?s. There are pleasures here for those who enjoy the equivalent of a beautifully photographed, sad movie, but Williams had seemed capable of much more. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446525480
• ISBN-13: 978-0446525480
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,645,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old-Fashioned Love Story, May 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: As It Is in Heaven (Paperback)

"As It Is In Heaven" is my favorite Niall Williams book. Part of the reason it is my favorite is the fact that it takes place in Ireland and in Venice...two of my favorite places in the world. And Ireland and Venice are perfect locales for this story with its distinctly fairy tale quality. There is magic in "As It Is In Heaven" and it is definitely Irish magic.

The characters in this book are all emotionally and spiritually damaged, but then who isn't? Still, Philip, Stephen and Gabriella seem to be a little more damaged and vulnerable to pain than are most and they really come to life in this book. Williams does a superb job of baring their souls and letting us share in their emotions.

Philip Griffin is a man who blames himself for the death of his wife and young daughter many years ago (although he is blameless). Stephen, his son, now thirty-two, was raised and loved by his father, but it is clear that the loss of his mother has affected him deeply. He is a man who knows "the fine skills of walking in empty rooms and being aware of the ghosts." Although the story isn't predictable, its theme is clear: this is a story about the redemptive power of love, the power of love to heal, to make whole.

Stephen feels his life begin to heal when he meets the beautiful Venetian violinist, Gabriella Castoldi. Gabriella is a women who is fighting ghosts of her own. An "expectancy of grief" hovers over her at all times; it is so powerful it even affects those with whom she interacts.

This is a story that could so easily have fallen into the very maudlin. And sometimes Williams does give in to the temptation to write a little over-the-top. Love doesn't heal all wounds; it's no magic panacea of beauty and poetry and it can sometimes cause more problems than it solves. This is something Williams seems to want to forget.

Williams rescues (and balances) his story, however, with insight into the human soul that is heartbreakingly accurate, achingly perceptive and beautifully wise. And, sometimes these insights come from unexpected sources, making them all the more believable and welcome.

The fey, fairy tale quality of this book will no doubt draw some readers in while causing others to discard it as "too romantic." I think I fall somewhere in between. Love doesn't solve all problems, love can't endure against all odds, yet love is the force that drives the universe and gives meaning to our lives. I found I was able to forgive Williams' ventures into the overly-lyrical and enjoy "As It Is In Heaven" for the beautiful love story it is.

Williams' prose is very lyrical, very poetic and very romantic, but this book is still exceptionally well-written. And sometimes, a very romantic story is just what I'm looking for. Although I don't believe love can conquer all, I certainly believe in its healing and redemptive powers.

I don't think there's an author alive who writes of the pain and beauty of love with quite the magic of Niall Williams. If you're in the mood for an old-fashioned love story, one that will make you laugh and cry and sigh, then you really can't do better than "As It Is In Heaven." Leave reality behind when you enter this magic world; just savor the book and let it become a part of you.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are there moments that change one's life?, March 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: As It Is in Heaven (Hardcover)

Clearly Williams thinks so. In FLOL and now in As it is in Heaven, through timing, coincidence, fate, whatever you want to call it, two finely drawn and extraordinary characters come upon each other and nothing is ever the same again. As in FLOL this is a novel of place where the Irish coast and its villages are vividly drawn by Williams' prose. The lovers are facinating - an unlikely but inevitable match but, more than in FLOL, As it is in Heaven is populated by several other wonderful characters - Steven's father with his rituals and faith, the Indian doctor, a fixture in the medical systems of all the old British dominions, the headmistress and the landlady and their assumptions. All made this a rich, satifying read. I laughed,I wept and I sighed. For me, this book explored "fated" lovers with more complexity than FLOL, a natural progression in this second novel. My experience with both has led me to trust Williams and suspend my need for the rational and the sensible - and believe that there are relationships where the attraction between two people is so powerful that it is impossible to contemplate a life where they do not connect. I savoured every bit of it and can hardly wait for the next set of explorations.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and magical, August 18, 2000

By 

Arry Tanusondjaja (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: As It Is in Heaven (Paperback)

Niall Williams can really string up words and feelings together into a magical story. Yes, he is a hardcore romantic, however, his story comes out sweet and intoxicating, and not soppy and predictable. I read "Four Letters of Love" and got hooked up with his style of writing. This is a story of somebody who is gripped by love that he is willing to chase his dream ... the story of a sad violinist called Gabriella Castoldi and a lonely teacher called Stephen Griffin, and how Divine intervention plays a part in their relationship ...

If you like imaginative, romantic story, and you want to smile or cry because you can remember yourself being in that position before, and having it narrated in such a beautiful way, do get a copy of "As it is in Heaven", or better still, give it to your loved one!