Genre Fiction
![Claire Keegan - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_claire_keegan.jpg)
Small Things Like These
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize
"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." -Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers
Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.
"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." -Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers
Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Small Things Like These:
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
An NPR "Books We Love" of 2021 selection
A Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" of 2021 selection
People Magazine's "Book of the Week"
A Publishers Weekly "Holiday Gift Guide 2021" Selection
"At the opening of Small Things Like These, one immediately senses that Keegan is breathing something vital into the season's most cherished tales, until, as gently as snow falling, her little book accrues the unmistakable aura of a classic… From the elements of this simple existence in an inconsequential town, Keegan has carved out a profoundly moving and universal story…Small Things Like These reminds us that the real miracle in any season is courage. Get two copies: one to keep, one to give."-Washington Post
"For all her earlier accolades, Small Things Like These, Keegan's first novel, enters the world this month with the shocking force of a debut…Over what would amount to a couple of chapters in another novel, Keegan manages to place her characters and her readers at the center of an essential human dilemma: Will we turn a blind eye to evil in our midst, or will we take some action against it, even if it consists of just one small thing? As Keegan's concise, capacious new book demonstrates, little acts can lead to real change."-Los Angeles Times
"Keegan's precisely considered details about character, setting, memory, and dramatic moment create a story you will want to read again and again. Her deceptively simple language is pitch-perfect."-Boston Globe
"This exquisite miniature of a novel somehow defies the gravitational pull of its grim subject to hover in a quotidian, luminous present. Details materialize with preternatural clarity. The milky light of a winter afternoon, mist on a river, a woman opening an oven door, a child taking her father's hand: We see these things and feel their lingering presence as we are drawn into the life of an unassuming man in an unremarkable place."-
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
An NPR "Books We Love" of 2021 selection
A Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" of 2021 selection
People Magazine's "Book of the Week"
A Publishers Weekly "Holiday Gift Guide 2021" Selection
"At the opening of Small Things Like These, one immediately senses that Keegan is breathing something vital into the season's most cherished tales, until, as gently as snow falling, her little book accrues the unmistakable aura of a classic… From the elements of this simple existence in an inconsequential town, Keegan has carved out a profoundly moving and universal story…Small Things Like These reminds us that the real miracle in any season is courage. Get two copies: one to keep, one to give."-Washington Post
"For all her earlier accolades, Small Things Like These, Keegan's first novel, enters the world this month with the shocking force of a debut…Over what would amount to a couple of chapters in another novel, Keegan manages to place her characters and her readers at the center of an essential human dilemma: Will we turn a blind eye to evil in our midst, or will we take some action against it, even if it consists of just one small thing? As Keegan's concise, capacious new book demonstrates, little acts can lead to real change."-Los Angeles Times
"Keegan's precisely considered details about character, setting, memory, and dramatic moment create a story you will want to read again and again. Her deceptively simple language is pitch-perfect."-Boston Globe
"This exquisite miniature of a novel somehow defies the gravitational pull of its grim subject to hover in a quotidian, luminous present. Details materialize with preternatural clarity. The milky light of a winter afternoon, mist on a river, a woman opening an oven door, a child taking her father's hand: We see these things and feel their lingering presence as we are drawn into the life of an unassuming man in an unremarkable place."-
Readers Top Reviews
Alaine SupelJALI
This little story read like a parable. Born out of wedlock, but given a good, but simple life by his mother's employer, Furlong gives back in a most profound way. Short Irish novel demonstrates human kindness. I recommend this book.
Tiffany DouglasAl
I hadn't realized that this was as short as it was, so that's something to be aware of. But I loved this story - it felt cozy, intimate and profound and made me long for winter (strangely). This is my first time reading this author but I'll definitely pick up more books Keegan now.
RMA626Tiffany Dou
Small Things Like These is an expertly crafted morality tale. Readers won't know they're being taught important lessons until the closing pages. The characters are gentle, unremarkable every-day people. I was unfamiliar with the historical events which prompted the author to tell this story. This book is a short read, at just over 100 pages. This story will keep with me for a while.
Cheryl MorrisRMA6
This book is a perfect novella with beautifully drawn characters. It sneaks up on you with pastoral scenes rendered next to gritty descriptions of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland.
OpsimathCheryl Mo
The writing in this short novella is both simple and wholly evocative. This was my first time reading anything by Keegan, and I'd pretty well read anything she wrote simply for the clarity and beauty of the prose. The main character, the small town interrelationships, the physical setting are all vivid and almost visceral. However, like many readers, I felt Ii had been left hanging at the end. Rather than telling us that there would be consequences for his action, in the most vague and general of terms, I felt the main character would have been more fully developed had we seen him confronting those consequences, particularly within his own family. We have a pretty good idea of how his wife will react, emotionally/verbally; but how far will she take her reaction? What will his cherished daughters think and do, and how will he in turn respond to them? How will he cope with the impact on his business? Just how powerful is the Church in that small town, after all? The book felt, in sum, like episode one, or the first half of a two part series. It set things up -- beautifully, imaginatively, compassionately -- and then walked away.
