A review by sarahmatthews
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Read on audio, narrated by Aidan Kelly

Faber & Faber, 124pp

Pub. 2021

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I’d heard that this book was special and it didn’t disappoint! This novella is set in a small town in Ireland and is told from the point of view of Bill Furlong, a businessman who supplies fuel to locals including the convent on the edge of town. It is nearing Christmas in 1985, times are hard for his customers, but their homes need heating and Bill is in demand.

This haunting story explores how Bill grew up and the hardships he underwent to ultimately become a well liked and successful business owner as well as a father of five girls.

one Christmas he accidentally finds himself in a moral dilemma that has a strong connection to his past and we see him grapple with his inner thoughts about it. The writing is moving, well observed and just on the right side of giving hints but not spelling it all out.

“Always it was the same, Furlong thought; always they carried mechanically on without pause, to the next job at hand. What would life he like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things? Might their lives be different or much the same – or would they just lose the run of themselves?” 

The result is that you’re left wanting to know more and hoping for the best for Bill who is a decent person just trying to get by and provide for his family. This novella puts a spotlight on a piece of shockingly recent history I didn’t know about (the Magdalene laundries) and there are so many poignant moments. It’s staggering how the author develops the characters so fully in just over 100 pages and I really want to read more of Claire Keegan’s economical writing; she’s written another novella, Foster, and it’s going straight on my TBR list. The audiobook is expertly narrated but my only criticism is that reviewers of the hardcopy book talk of an afterward which annoyingly wasn’t included so I had to visit Wikipedia instead.