108
Book · 2021
Small Things Like These
In a small Irish town in 1985, coal merchant Bill Furlong discovers evidence of abuse at a convent and must decide whether to protect his comfortable life or act against a community's complicit silence.
Your call
Already know it? Recommend it too.
Details
Around the Web
Keegan’s decision to portray the horrors of a Magdalene laundry through the exterior lens of an unassuming male character, rather than fictionalizing first-hand experiences, is a clever device which avoids shock value and instead questions how the morality of the everyman is shaped by culture ... a slim yet evocative book that honors the small things that make a difference while also showing that communities determine which traditions to celebrate or reform, to uphold or rewrite.
Caitlin Stout on The Chicago Review of Books The monumental power of Claire Keegan is that she can create these cuckoo-clock narratives where every single word seems to be a necessary contribution to the overall mechanism of the novel. She is all killer, no filler ... Small Things Like These is another minor miracle from Keegan, a book that is nostalgic, touching, brutal and angry. All of which is to say, it is utterly unmissable.
Barry Pierce on The Times (UK) From the elements of this simple existence in an inconsequential town, Keegan has carved out a profoundly moving and universal story. There’s nothing preachy here, just the strange joy and anxiety of firmly resisting cruelty ... Grand gestures, extravagant generosity, moments of surprising forgiveness all have their rightful place in our holiday legends. But Small Things Like These reminds us that the real miracle in any season is courage
Ron Charles on The Washington Post
1 / 3
Why people recommend it
No reasons shared yet. Tell others what makes this title worth their time.