You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Closer to a 3.75. The first store was a little meh for me, but the second and third were beautifully written. Keegan does an incredible job of writing about a momentous experience that begins and ends so quickly in someone's life. In all 3 of these stories, just like in the 2 novellas I've read by her, a person runs in and out of someone's life in an exhausting way. It could be emotional or beautiful or devastating or inspiring for the characters. I feel like I could guess where the story would go as I was reading it, but strangely could not guess where it would go after it ended??
sad
tense
medium-paced
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Claire Keegan reminds me of Alice Munro in that she writes short stories and novellas that feel more complete than most novels. Foster and Small Things Like These are books I unreservedly recommend to anyone who reads (or breathes).
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men is still a great showcase of her talents, but not where I would start. The three stories collected here share the themes of misogyny and the difficulty men and woman sometimes have in communicating with each other.
So Late in the Day begins by introducing us to Cathal at his workplace on a beautiful July afternoon. Everyone around Cathal is excited about the upcoming long weekend, but he’s miserable. Cathal almost seems to resent the nice weather. He’s the ultimate glass half-empty coworker. He struggles to get through his workday, ignoring his boss’ recommendation to take off a little early. He gets home, makes a shitty frozen dinner, feeds his cat, and watches bad TV. We get flashbacks to a time in his life where there was the possibility of happiness. The special meaning of this long weekend—the real reason he’s in such a foul mood—is slowly revealed to us.
This is the newest story collected here, first published in 2022, and the only story told through the perspective of a man. It’s a testament to her skill that Keegan can make us feel sympathy for this miserable character, while still holding him accountable for his bad behavior and efforts to sabotage his own chance at love and happiness.
The Long and Painful Death was my favorite story in the collection. A writer is staying at a writer’s retreat on the Irish coast, the former home of the German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll. This writer is thrilled to have a relaxing place to work, read, and relax. Unfortunately, a rude, old German academic interrupts her Zen environment to ask for a house tour.
I found this story funny. Keegan plays a fun trick on the reader. She shows a writer, excited to finally focus on her writing, who seems to spend all her time doing everything but writing, to the point where you almost start to judge her for not using her opportunity more wisely. I was starting to wonder if we are supposed to judge her, but it’s literary entrapment because as soon as that German professor makes a rude comment we realize how unfair it is to judge her. The writer gets her revenge on the professor in a fun way.
Antartica is the oldest story here, first published in 1999, and my least favourite. A married woman is a little bored with her life and makes the decision to have an affair with a random man. She feels that she needs to do something dangerous and taboo before she gets too old. She meets a man in a pub who seems harmless. He lives in a dingy apartment with his cat. They start an affair and everything seems fun until it goes dangerously bad.
I think I may need to give this one another read. I’m not a fan of short stories that end with a sudden dark twist ending. It’s a trope that a lot of short story writers seem to rely on when they don’t know how to end their story. To be fair, this story was published 25 years ago and Keegan tackles her themes with more complexity now. I question putting this story last though. There is also a degree of “Be careful what you ask for” that I find a little lame, but I might need to give this one another read.
Important Warning for Men and Cats
During Antarctica, I noticed a pattern: The terrible male characters in the collection all live alone with a cat. Claire Keegan is not an author who includes unnecessary details in her work, so I took note. I was reading this on my back deck when I looked over my shoulder and saw this.
I started chuckling when I then turned the page a couple minutes later and read this paragraph:
“The cat jumped on the bed and startled her.
“Jesus Christ!” she said. There was something creepy about this cat.”
That was the confirmation I needed that Claire Keegan has an agenda against men with cats. I started feeling a bit self conscious and wanted to explain to her that my cat was basically forced on me by my sister. She was one of 12 kittens born in a horse barn that needed a home. There’s nothing weird about that. I’m more of a dog person but I’ve become very fond of my cat.
I heard some rumblings below me and looked down to see this:
Now my cat was being creepy just like the cat in the freaking story! She was trying to get my attention so that I would go back in, feed her, and turn on some bad TV. I felt like a male character in a Claire Keegan short story, waiting for her to masterfully catalogue all my flaws in 20 pages or less.
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men is still a great showcase of her talents, but not where I would start. The three stories collected here share the themes of misogyny and the difficulty men and woman sometimes have in communicating with each other.
So Late in the Day begins by introducing us to Cathal at his workplace on a beautiful July afternoon. Everyone around Cathal is excited about the upcoming long weekend, but he’s miserable. Cathal almost seems to resent the nice weather. He’s the ultimate glass half-empty coworker. He struggles to get through his workday, ignoring his boss’ recommendation to take off a little early. He gets home, makes a shitty frozen dinner, feeds his cat, and watches bad TV. We get flashbacks to a time in his life where there was the possibility of happiness. The special meaning of this long weekend—the real reason he’s in such a foul mood—is slowly revealed to us.
This is the newest story collected here, first published in 2022, and the only story told through the perspective of a man. It’s a testament to her skill that Keegan can make us feel sympathy for this miserable character, while still holding him accountable for his bad behavior and efforts to sabotage his own chance at love and happiness.
The Long and Painful Death was my favorite story in the collection. A writer is staying at a writer’s retreat on the Irish coast, the former home of the German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll. This writer is thrilled to have a relaxing place to work, read, and relax. Unfortunately, a rude, old German academic interrupts her Zen environment to ask for a house tour.
I found this story funny. Keegan plays a fun trick on the reader. She shows a writer, excited to finally focus on her writing, who seems to spend all her time doing everything but writing, to the point where you almost start to judge her for not using her opportunity more wisely. I was starting to wonder if we are supposed to judge her, but it’s literary entrapment because as soon as that German professor makes a rude comment we realize how unfair it is to judge her. The writer gets her revenge on the professor in a fun way.
Antartica is the oldest story here, first published in 1999, and my least favourite. A married woman is a little bored with her life and makes the decision to have an affair with a random man. She feels that she needs to do something dangerous and taboo before she gets too old. She meets a man in a pub who seems harmless. He lives in a dingy apartment with his cat. They start an affair and everything seems fun until it goes dangerously bad.
I think I may need to give this one another read. I’m not a fan of short stories that end with a sudden dark twist ending. It’s a trope that a lot of short story writers seem to rely on when they don’t know how to end their story. To be fair, this story was published 25 years ago and Keegan tackles her themes with more complexity now. I question putting this story last though. There is also a degree of “Be careful what you ask for” that I find a little lame, but I might need to give this one another read.
Important Warning for Men and Cats
During Antarctica, I noticed a pattern: The terrible male characters in the collection all live alone with a cat. Claire Keegan is not an author who includes unnecessary details in her work, so I took note. I was reading this on my back deck when I looked over my shoulder and saw this.
I started chuckling when I then turned the page a couple minutes later and read this paragraph:
“The cat jumped on the bed and startled her.
“Jesus Christ!” she said. There was something creepy about this cat.”
That was the confirmation I needed that Claire Keegan has an agenda against men with cats. I started feeling a bit self conscious and wanted to explain to her that my cat was basically forced on me by my sister. She was one of 12 kittens born in a horse barn that needed a home. There’s nothing weird about that. I’m more of a dog person but I’ve become very fond of my cat.
I heard some rumblings below me and looked down to see this:
Now my cat was being creepy just like the cat in the freaking story! She was trying to get my attention so that I would go back in, feed her, and turn on some bad TV. I felt like a male character in a Claire Keegan short story, waiting for her to masterfully catalogue all my flaws in 20 pages or less.