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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
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
fast-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
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Claire Keegan does it again. No, scratch that - she defines it again. She reminds us, with brutal, quiet efficiency, what a short story is supposed to be. This isn't a tale you read; it's a vibration you feel. A stone dropped into the well of your chest whose ripples just keep going.
You can read So Late in the Day in an hour. Maybe less. But I guarantee you, the weight of it will linger. This is a masterclass in compression, in the devastating power of what’s left unsaid. Every single word is necessary. Every comma is a landmine. There is no fat here, no filler - just the lean, stark muscle of a story that knows exactly what it’s doing.
In one of the stories, we follow Cathal, a Dublin man on a Friday that should be a celebration but feels more like a funeral. The story unfolds in the quiet spaces between his thoughts, in the memories of a relationship that curdled before it even really began. Keegan, with her surgeon’s precision, dissects the slow, quiet poison of resentment, the petty grievances that accumulate into a life sentence of loneliness. It’s about the things men don’t say, the love they withhold without even realizing they’re doing it.
This isn't a grand, dramatic tragedy. It’s subtler, and therefore more terrifying. It’s the tragedy of a missed opportunity, of a heart that clenched itself shut too tight to ever let anything good in. The emotional impact is seismic precisely because it’s so quiet. The gut-punch doesn’t come from a twist or a shout; it comes from a sigh. A realization. A door closing softly for the last time.
Keegan is the absolute master of this form. She builds an entire world and dismantles an entire man in the time it takes most writers to set the scene. It’s flawless, heartbreaking work.
A solid 4.5 stars. It’s a perfect, piercing collection of three stories. Just be ready to sit with the ache afterwards.
You can read So Late in the Day in an hour. Maybe less. But I guarantee you, the weight of it will linger. This is a masterclass in compression, in the devastating power of what’s left unsaid. Every single word is necessary. Every comma is a landmine. There is no fat here, no filler - just the lean, stark muscle of a story that knows exactly what it’s doing.
In one of the stories, we follow Cathal, a Dublin man on a Friday that should be a celebration but feels more like a funeral. The story unfolds in the quiet spaces between his thoughts, in the memories of a relationship that curdled before it even really began. Keegan, with her surgeon’s precision, dissects the slow, quiet poison of resentment, the petty grievances that accumulate into a life sentence of loneliness. It’s about the things men don’t say, the love they withhold without even realizing they’re doing it.
This isn't a grand, dramatic tragedy. It’s subtler, and therefore more terrifying. It’s the tragedy of a missed opportunity, of a heart that clenched itself shut too tight to ever let anything good in. The emotional impact is seismic precisely because it’s so quiet. The gut-punch doesn’t come from a twist or a shout; it comes from a sigh. A realization. A door closing softly for the last time.
Keegan is the absolute master of this form. She builds an entire world and dismantles an entire man in the time it takes most writers to set the scene. It’s flawless, heartbreaking work.
A solid 4.5 stars. It’s a perfect, piercing collection of three stories. Just be ready to sit with the ache afterwards.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A