I closed the book and thought, “Wow, that was really excellent. She really makes you think about individual responsibility in the face of group complacency, what it means to be true to your values (in Furlong’s case, Christianity), and the complexities of morality. Claire Keegan’s prose is straightforward but also cinematic, and she does a lot with seemingly so little. The heat-aching story of two innocent young children will surely keep you hooked till the end and leave you searching for more. This book is soooo short (only a little over 100 pages), but it packs a big punch. In the present day, Bill finds himself face-to-face with the town’s terrible open secret, and he must decide whether to keep his head down for the sake of his family or act and risk the consequences.

Luckily, his mother’s employer gave Bill a secure childhood and saved them from landing in a bad situation. SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE By Claire Keegan A tiny thing itself a slice-of-life novella cheekily packaged as a full-scale novel Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is set in. Bill Furlong, who runs the local coal plant, is wrestling with some mid-life what-ifs, but otherwise has a lovely life with his wife and daughters - especially considering his parentage, which includes an unknown father and unmarried mother. On the one hand, it has the scathing social and religious indictment of a longer novel on the other, it is a quiet and morose character study, a novella that. At just over one hundred pages, Irish writer Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is a deceptively slim volume. The novel itself is set around Christmastime in a small Irish town. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.

Despite being born into the world under less-than-ideal circumstances, life turned out okay due to the generosity of others. But I’m so glad it did! I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. REVIEW: In fewer than 120 pages, Claire Keegan has crafted a touching, memorable story about a working-class father of five young girls who reflects on the choice between doing what’s right versus what’s easy. Small Things Like These is a very short but impactful novel that probably never would have made it onto my radar if it hadn’t been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Small things like these book review