A small perfect gem of a novella, a whole world distilled into just a few pages, compact, understated but so powerful, with not a word wasted and every word precisely and carefully chosen. Claire Keegan is a wonderful writer and this is a wonderful book. It’s set in a small unnamed Irish town in 1985. Bill Furlong is a coal and timber merchant and is making his pre-Christmas deliveries when he comes across a young woman, Sarah, locked in the coal shed of the local Catholic convent. She’s been there all night, presumably as a punishment, and she is cold, hungry and asking for her baby. It becomes clear that the nuns run one of Ireland’s infamous Magdalene laundries. Bill is a good man, a hard-working family man, the moral heart of the story, and he wants to do the right thing. He must choose between remaining complicit in the cruelty that the whole town is aware of but chooses to ignore, or to follow his conscience, which could have far-reaching consequences for his family. Keegan’s restraint in her narrative only amplifies Bill’s dilemma. The book is at once a compelling and moving tale and an indictment of the Catholic Church’s heartlessness in its treatment of these young women. A must read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5. If you buy only one book this holiday season, THIS is the one I want you to get. This novella is a quiet masterpiece. It will likely become one of my all-time favorites.

The story follows Bill Furlong, a timber and coal salesman in 1980s Ireland, at Christmastime. While making his deliveries, Furlong makes a terrible, heartbreaking discovery. Should he follow his conscience and act, likely to the detriment of his own family, or should he mind his own business? Is there really such a thing as an innocent bystander who has the capability to help, but doesn’t?

In just 128 pages, Keegan explores these and other “meaning of life” type questions in the context of the Magdalene asylums that existed in Ireland (and elsewhere) until the mid 1990s. Keegan’s writing style is quiet and contemplative, yet the novella is still packed with so much emotion. I am so happy to have read this beautiful piece and give it my very highest recommendation. It will surely be one of my favorites of the year, and possibly of all time.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Maybe I'm just not used to short stories and novellas but I spent much of the time wondering what had made me request this book from netgalley, then realised I was almost at the end!

I think I get it? But I'm not certain. It has made me want to know more about the Magdalene laundries of Ireland.

I guess it's a story about discovering how much you're willing to do when push comes to shove and about the atrocities that humans will inflict on one another and the small things that can make a world of difference.

**Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this book in return for an honest review

A small but perfect book, holding out the possibility that one person's actions against injustice and pain can make a difference. A message of hope and quiet courage in a dark world.
Thank you to netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of this book

Small Things Like These is exactly what I look for in fiction – it pulls me in to the world created and I forget that I’m reading a book. Bill Furlong lives in 1980s rural Ireland with his wife and five daughters, where he goes about his business in much the same way every day. The beginning of the story has a very homey feel because of the daily rituals, and because the story is set around Christmas, the seasonal traditions gave me a feeling of nostalgia.

Bill has some ghosts in his closet from the past, and this adds an interesting dimension to his character. He also comes face to face with a moral crisis, and here the story takes a heartbreaking turn. I discovered after finishing the short novel that this is based on true events in Ireland’s history. The author did a masterful job of creating an authentic fictional story around a historical tragedy. The Note on the Text at the end of the book puts the story in context.

I adore Claire Keegan’s writing style. I believe this is her first novel, and I will eager look for her next. Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book.

ill Furlong is a coal merchant in Wexford Ireland. It’s Christmas time in 1985, and he leads a pleasant if hard-working life with his wife and five daughters. The lead up to Christmas is depicted wonderfully, both in Furlong’s home and at work. I loved the traditional preparations included like making the Christmas cake, having been brought up in a similar background.

The nostalgia was intense with this one. The evocation of the town and its people was masterful. It’s a typical small Irish town but has the shadow of the convent looming. Within its walls, young girls and women are being mistreated and the complicit silence resonates around the town. Furlong finds himself looking towards his past and thinks about how our small decisions affect everything.

A beautiful book, thought-provoking and perfect for the run up to Christmas. Going on my list to gift to people for sure.

I received an ARC of this novella from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A man born out of wedlock is faced with a dilemma when he comes into contact with a woman who causes him to ponder what life could have been like for his late mother.

This is a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. The main character, Bill, lives in the same small town in Ireland where he grew up, with his wife and five daughters. He works selling coal, and they have a happy and uncomplicated life. The book focuses on the end of the year in 1985, as Bill, going about his ordinary life and preparing for Christmas, comes across a troubling situation when delivering an order to one of his clients that triggers memories of his complicated childhood. Bill must decided whether to do nothing, as he is being urged to do by his wife and others in town, or take action that will upset powerful forces and risk his own comfort.

This is a powerful book. Highly recommended!

Bill Furlong is a hard working family man living in a small Irish town in 1985. Born to an unwed teenage mother in 1946, he was fortunate that her employer let her keep her baby and stay on the farm where she worked. A coal merchant, Bill provides for his wife and five daughters, and helps out those who can't afford to pay him as much as he can. It's almost Christmas, but times are tough and many of his customers can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone buy gifts for their children and pay for fuel to stave off the freezing chills of winter.

The town is very much still under the thrall of the Church and Bill delivers wood and coal to the nuns who live in the convent next to the Catholic school. It's while he's making an early delivery one morning that he finds a young woman in a terrible state. Not only does it open his eyes to what happens to unmarried mothers sent to the convent to work in the laundry until their babies are born. but also leaves him feeling very unsettled and reflecting on his own beginnings. Ultimately he decides he must do what his conscience tells him is right and humane even though it is sure to land him in a world of trouble.

This novella might be short but it tells a powerful tale about a disgraceful time in the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It's hard to believe Ireland's Magdalen laundries where unmarried mothers were forced to work while the Church took their babies away for adoption, were still operating until 1996. Simply told in gorgeous prose it's poignant and compassionate, while acknowledging the complicity of the nuns and population that allowed this practice to continue.

A small book (really a novella) about a big topic. A kind-hearted man discovers something disturbing at the convent/school in town and his world is turned upside down. Based on the true story of Irish homes for unwed mothers and what happened to the girls and babies. The writing is excellent, the story engaging and touching, my only complaint -- it was too short. I would have loved to see it go on. But sometimes short & sweet is the best.

So I thought this would be an uplifting Christmas novella and it was not. I felt ground down by the time I got to the end of the book. I realize now that Keegan was writing about something that was pretty horrific in Ireland’s history (Magdalene Laundries in Ireland) that I had not heard or read about before now. There was a lot that felt like it was going over my head while reading, and it didn’t help that the protagonist of the novella, Bill Furlong, seemed to just be joyless through the whole book. There’s a vibe of now his life has meaning thing at the end and I don’t know. Maybe this should have been longer. Because I doubt that what happened next is going to be great for Bill or his family.

“Small Things Like These” follows Bill Furlong. It’s 1985 and Christmas is almost upon what seems to be a dying village in Ireland. Bill is wrestling with unhappiness and his mother’s past. When he comes upon a young girl and realizes that something is wrong, he can’t put her out of his mind. The book leads to some discoveries not only about the young girl, but Bill’s past as well.

So Bill. I don’t know. I just could not get a handle on him. It takes a bit, but you start to see him dissatisfied with everything. He’s married with several kids and seems to be questioning if getting married and having children was enough. We know that the village is going through a bad downturn, and his wife is hoping for some new windows and other things, but Bill wonders why are they struggling. What is the meaning of life is pretty much this whole book. I can’t speak to anyone else in this book. We just have Bill’s thoughts about his wife, his children, his frustration with things, him going over his mother’s past and his still unknown father and how that shaped his life. And we get his perspective on a wealthy widow who apparently provided (some) support towards his mother and him.

There is not too much dialogue, just Bill’s feelings and thoughts. And when he comes upon the young girl and realizes that something is wrong at the convent the book just turns into something else. I had no idea about the Magdalene Laundries and afterwards read about them and felt horrified, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland I think that is why the book threw me a bit. Reading about Bill’s dissatisfaction and then it just delves into a pretty terrible historical period in Ireland.

Even though this book is set during the Christmas holidays, it feels like it can be any day of the year. The whole book felt bleak. I thought it be a great Christmas book which is why I got it via NetGalley to read it prior to the run up of Christmas.

The ending I know was supposed to be uplifting. But my first thought was that things were probably not going to go great for Bill and I worry about what will happen to him and his family.

Small Things Like These is a beautiful story filled with joy, love, compassion and loving humanity no matter where you come from. This Christmas story gives a lesson to learn and such a pleasure to read. I absolutely love this story!

This is a beautiful novella about an ordinary man who stumbles upon something cruel that his own past experience means he cannot ignore.
Set in Ireland in the 1980s, it shines a tiny but bright light upon the practise of pregnant young women being sent 'away' to convents to have their babies and if the baby survived (and recent reports in the Irish press indicate that this was not a given) the baby was put up for adoption whether the young woman wanted that or not. Of course, the nuns were the perpetrators of this but not without the silent support of families and society in general. That it was still happening in the 1980s is pretty shocking but the telling of this story is subtle and all the sadder for that.
The end left me wondering what happened next and I've thought about the story and main character since finishing the book.

What a fabulously written novella! I loved Furlong and what a story of paying it forward. This was beautiful in every way. The writing was descriptive and engaging and the narrative just grabbed you. I could see this being read in high schools not only for the literature but also the lesson it tells.

A lovely Irish novella with a dark story lifted by the humanity of one man, Bill Furlong. Based on the true circumstances of the Magdalen Laundry, where poor unwed mothers were used as slave labor and many died.

Bill Furlong was born to an unmarried mother. Luckily she was employed by a compassionate woman who kept her employed and didn't judge. Bill is grown now, married with five daughters. His wife, like much of the village, lives a bit in fear of being judged and of the power of the church in their town. She doesn't want to do anything to endanger their life.

While making a coal delivery, Bill finds a young new mother locked up in a room and she begs him to help her escape. The sisters quickly try to gloss over her and Bill is invited to tea and quietly set straight. The thought of the young woman gnaws at him, and in the final pages, Bill performs an act of conscience and humanity, shouldering the risk to him and his family. This is a lovely story of redemption. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

<i>Thank you to the publisher for an early copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</i>

It's nearing Christmas of 1985. Bill Furlong, father of five daughters, works delivering coal and wood in the town of New Ross, Ireland. He and his wife, Eileen, live a contented life due to their fiscal responsibility and devout ways. But Bill encounters something that not only shakes up his faith but his outlook on life.

As the son of an unwed mother who was graciously taken in by an elderly woman, Bill is not unused to kindnesses. However, when life gets tough it's easy to worry and stress about getting by and neglect the gifts we can give to others. Bill faces this when he has a chance encounter with a young girl at the local convent. From there he grapples with his faith as its lived out in the little actions we take each day, how our words only mean anything when strengthened by our deeds.

Having never read Claire Keegan before, I did not know what to expect from this story. But it was quite a powerful novella! I can see why she's loved for her short stories. She doesn't over explain, giving just enough detail and putting you in the headspace of Bill in a way that's both disarming and empathy-inducing. It's a perfect little book to curl up with on a cold day and read in one sitting. That's what I did and I absolutely loved it.

While the moral or lesson of the story might not be groundbreaking, it's a beautiful reminder to help those who cannot help themselves. And for those who are not familiar with Ireland's history of the Magdalen laundries, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is definitely more focused on the personal effects the institutions had on lives, rather than a historical explanation and overview of everything they did. But Keegan manages to make the harrowing treatment of young woman by the laundries feel so real in such a short amount of time.

This will be released here in the US on November 30th and I'd highly recommend checking this out when it's available. A beautiful story of faith in action and the seemingly small choices we can make that have a profound effect, not only on ourselves but on the lives of those we touch.

Short, and beautiful in it's simplicity. This novel was the breath of fresh air that I was looking for. It is perfect for this time of year.

It´s been a while since I gave 5 stars. This novella certainly deserves it.
A beautiful story about doing what´s right when you know you will have to pay for it.
Absolutely beautifully written.
I feel like whatever I´d say simply won´t be enough.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/58662236-small-things-like-these

The language is lovely - like the best Irish writers, Claire Keegan writes sentences that make you stop and read them over again, more slowly this time. Her protagonist is a fully realized, complex human being - a good man, shaped by his circumstances, trying to do the right thing in very difficult circumstances. The other characters - family, townsmen, the nuns running the Magdalene laundries - are fully rendered in just a few strokes, usually by a bit of dialogue. The small Irish town is tangible, as are the financial times and the web of power relationships that regulate people's behavior.

Equally impressive, Keegan presents one of the most shameful moral lapses of the Catholic Church - the Magdalene laundries - with a close-focused particularity that invokes a sense of horror without pontificating (you see what I did there).

And she does all of this in a short novel/long short story. This is masterful writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked this novella. Bill Furlong is a man with a good family and a solid career. He grew up with a single mother not knowing who his father is. When he is out on deliveries one day, he stops at a convent which holds a Magdalen laundry. This does not sit well with him, and the central moral tussle of the novel is what he should do.

Keegan writes the story in a way that allows the reader to see the complex factors that go into every move Furlong makes. These are real characters in an unfortunately real setting. The Magdalen laundries are not something that I know about. They were truly terrible and just another blight on the Church. I am interested in learning more about them and I have Keegan to thank for that.