Listening Still

  ‘'And what if I don't want that? What if what I want is exactly what we have now, or maybe it's something totally different? Maybe it's hundreds of miles away like you two will be.''
You can hear the voices of the dead who are brought into your father's business, the undertakers who can provide comfort with their unique gift. However, your problems have never been the dead. It's the living who doubt you, clip your wings, and condemn you to a vision that is so limited you end up believing in it. And since you have the personality of a sponge, misery is your Fate.
‘'The dead were not ones for waiting.''
Two paragraphs reveal Jeanie's personality (or lack of...) in an instant. Obligation, fear. Parents who have never bothered to ask for her own wishes. When she needs silence, her father gives her empty blessings, her insufferable mother - the epitome of the atheist bimbo who is also a hairdresser (obviously!) - attacks everyone and everything. Even the dead. A husband who has less nuisance than an empty shoe box, wailing in self-victimization, screaming about HIS demands. And the one who has the privilege to bring closure to families cannot find it in herself to be brave enough to listen to her own heart and send everyone to Hell. Brainwashed. Defeated. Kind to everyone but herself.
The novel makes a strong point of communicating the implications of being less brave than we had to be, of misery as the actual reward for those who want to satisfy others at the expense of their own welfare. Griffin emphasises silence as a much-needed relief for all of us whose minds are troubled by others' mistakes. The writing evokes moving scenes of family life and falling in love for the first time in a more innocent, nostalgic era. The passive-aggressive psychological pressure that many parents exert on their children echoes through Jeanie's life and there is an elegant kind of quiet sadness, a beautiful depiction of rural and urban settings in Ireland, Scotland and France. The sense of place is done to perfection. 
However, I found a cast of characters that frustrated me to the High Heavens. A miserable lot, full of lies and cowardish behaviour. Instead of focusing on Fionn, a great character, I had to endure Niall and his petulant schoolgirl tears. The dialogue was unbearable at times. Would you say to parents who have lost their child that they were ‘simply amazing'? What is this? An American sitcom for woke idiots? I've lost my patience with Jeanie and her constant self-blaming and Marielle was a breath of fresh air that should have been there earlier. Not to mention that the usual ‘male-dominated' business complaint has been done to death. 
In the end, I found everything to be average. Almost below average. At first, I devoured the chapters and then it went downhill. Fast. A lake of tears, drama and self-pity, Hallmark-'quality' dialogue, ‘twists' that were clumsily done, often needless, plotlines leading nowhere. It could have been a haunting story with a memorable protagonist. I suppose it might be enough as a housewife's beach read, but for me, it was indifferent. An opportunity that never reached its potential.