Name: SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE
Rating: 4.116719242902208 (317 reviews)
ISBN: 9780571373871

CLAIRE. KEEGAN

'absolutely Beautiful' -douglas Stuart, Author of Shuggie Bain

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE

Claire Keegan

Small Things Like These

It's such a beautiful story. One thing that surprised me, is that I went into it blindly and I still enjoyed it. It's been on my tbr for over a year now (since Jan 2025) and I'm glad I finally read it. For a short story, it really did have substance and a story. Sure there were lots of questions more than answers but I don't know. l don't feel robbed. I'm pretty satisfied with the open-ended ending.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

Destined to be a modern classic from "an original and a canonical presence in Irish fiction" (Colm Tóibín), Small Things Like These is Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, the tale of one man's courage -- and a remarkable portrait of love and family It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, who is father to five girls, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. Already a bestseller in France and certain to be read worldwide for generations to come, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting and inspiring story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically celebrated and iconic writers.

Sinny

Muy buena lectura para los que le gustan los libros donde no pasan muchas cosas, sencillo, muy buenas descripciones. Increíble el Sr. Furlong. 

Kira

I found this to be very moving and thought provoking while also being written in a very specific style which I seem to really enjoy. I found myself not wanting to finish it bc I liked the writing so much but at the same time needing to finish it bc it inspired so much thinking and feeling in me. While yes, it’s quite obvious form the start where it will go and yes, it is told by a white man and not those girls and women who suffered, I think that’s exactly the point. It’s not meant to tell their stories it’s meant to show us how easily people looked away and ignored it, how influential the church was (still is but that’s besides the point here) and how one person grapples with their own (in)action. It had to be Bill because of his background and I think that’s important to point out. Overall would highly recommend and it’s a book I think I will likely revisit again at a later point as it offers a lot of depth you can only really appreciate on a re-read.

Bárbara Borba

keegan’s economy of language is great but after DNF-ing two books in a row, this didn’t really sing to me. she’s great at writing about small towns where everything happens though

Ianna Chia

read this in one sitting, only took a couple hours. beautifully written and thoughtful, i learned something new too

julia

this book was informative in an ambiguous way, a lot of things were left unsaid and i liked the open ending. i do wish there was a little bit more explicitness about the wrong doings of the church, but also it does a good job of showcasing how secretive and quietly corrupt it was back then. i loved the atmospheric writing over november - december time, it reminded me of the little things to look forward to, like the turning on of christmas lights. the grammar of this book was kind of odd tho, i found myself having to reread sentences a lot to understand what was actually being said

G recommended this one and I found it interesting but a bit slow. Created an atmosphere but also I was expecting more. Enjoyed it though.

Saskia Hughes 

not quite as focused on the issues of the church as i imagined but a lovely little story nonetheless

evie coxon

“Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?”

shen

***PRE-ORDER NOW*** THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FOSTER, ANTARCTICA AND WALK THE BLUE FIELDS *'This is a tale of courage and compassion, of good sons and vulnerable young mothers. Absolutely beautiful.'-Douglas Stuart (Winner of the Booker Prize 2020)* *'Marvellous-exact and icy and loving all at once.'-Sarah Moss* *'A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.'-Sinéad Gleeson* It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church. The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness. '[Claire Keegan] creates luminous effects with spare material, so every line seems to be a lesson in the perfect deployment of both style and emotion.' Hilary Mantel

What a beautiful little story, demonstrating the important of kindness and compassion against social norms and attitudes. Keegan's prose creates a perfect sense of a sleepiness and quietitude, enhancing the sense of time and place of the setting of the novel. It then sets the horrifying reality of the subject matter against this to sharpen the reader's sense of how normalised Magdalene laundries were in the 20th century and how brutal the lives of the girls imprisoned in them were.

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE 'absolutely Beautiful' -douglas Stuart, Author of Shuggie Bain

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