Reviews - Small Things Like These

26.2k reviews for:

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan

4.12 AVERAGE

patsyv59's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A spare, stunning novella. Really not a word out of place, no excess, just a beautifully written story of an “average man” who chooses to do the right thing, bravely, and take a stand again institutionalized evil instead of looking away. In this case, evil is the Catholic Church in 1980s Ireland, and more specifically the Magdalene laundries. This quiet Irish man (himself born out of wedlock but raised by his mother, who was a servant In the home of a wealthy childless couple) stumbles upon the evil being committed by local nuns who run both the school that his four daughters attend and a Magdalene laundry/baby farm. Details are limited, but it’s clear that the townsfolk ( esp. the women) are aware but ignore/victim blame etc. The protagonist decides on Christmas Eve to return to the convent and take the young teen out of the coal shed where she’s locked, and bring her home, walking through the village in the snow past all the judging eyes on his way. Brilliant to end the book before he gets home to his wife and daughters.

carmen_moen's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jaclynkyra's review against another edition

4.0

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

mimsicle18's review against another edition

4.0

Literally 70 pages. More like a short story. But if you’re interested in what happened to unwed mothers in Ireland and have an hour, it’s worth the read.