Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
It’s a little book that asks big questions.
I wasn’t expecting this story to affect me the way it did. The book itself is short and the story seems to meander. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is about the simple life of Bill Furlong. He’s a coal merchant in Ireland in the 80s. He had an unusual upbringing at the time. His mother was single and got to keep her job and raise her son in the house where she worked with no one troubling her about the boy’s father. He grows to a man and has five daughters of his own. He works hard and he and his wife have more than some and not as much as others. One day on a delivery to the nuns he finds a girl in the coal cellar. He’s not told why she is there and the nuns act like it was a mistake, but Bill finds the incident sticking with him. Can or will he do the right thing or upset all by helping and being human. It’s a little book that asks big questions.
If Small Things Like These leaves you wanting another quiet Irish novel that finds beauty in ordinary lives, I’d recommend Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession. Both books celebrate decency, kindness, and the extraordinary weight carried by seemingly ordinary people. Read the review →
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