128 pages
English language
Published Dec. 3, 2021 by Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated.
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 couple days of an Irish coal delivery man. This is like an extended short-story, a couple hours read time, but lively and earnest. Although it doesn't go into them, look up the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland before you read; I'm sure the tension I felt was designed.
There's a very old Jewish teaching which says "whoever saves a life, saves an entire world." This gentle and reflective novella, in which nothing much happens and yet lives change, is a version of this, told through the details of the quiet life of a man in an Irish village.
Tightly told tale of small quotidian acts that build a strong conscious in a person. Beautiful story.
Powerful little book. A compelling view of things through the eyes (and heart and mind) of Bill Furlong, a surprisingly sensitive man fighting against complicity. I enjoyed the descriptions of the crows at several points in the story. I both read and listened to the book (about 50-50) and thought the audiobook narration by Aidan Kelly was good.
