A review by darshreads
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I started off 2023 with Claire Keegan’s ‘Small things like these’ and as luck would have it, my library hold for her book ‘Late in the day’ came through on Dec 31. Glorious glorious bookish destiny be thanked! 
This kind turn of fate has led me to declare that Claire Keegan is a great way to bookend a year because you can always bank on her to craft the perfect short story. 
How she is able to confine full universes and rich characterizations within 3-4 pages, I will never know but I am thankful to be able to be privy to the creative output. 
'Late in the day' is a  collection of three short stories that investigate the dynamics of gender and  power structures that crop up even in the smallest of interactions between men and women.  The conflict in the three stories all exist under the same umbrella of the patriarchy but present varying degrees of threat, that you as a reader will find yourself constantly assessing, much like marginalized people do in the real world. What’s especially impactful is how the undertone of violence in the first two stories culminates in real violence in the third, a blatant nightmare scenario that plays as an endless cautionary tale in most women’s minds. 
 
I am so in are of how Keegan encourages the reader to comfortably seat themselves deep into her stories and then she pulls the rug from under them. I am eagerly awaiting a full length novel to really sink my teeth into! 
All in all, 2024 is off to a great literary start! 

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