Member Reviews

What an excellent read. The author has an incredibly lyrical and beautiful way of telling a story. Their emotive language brings forth an incredible reaction to the short stories conveyed and keeps the audience engaged throughout the read. I am a mega fan of this author and will continue to promote her stories.

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Claire Keagan is a masterful short story writer. I never quite know where her stories are going and yet am delighted wherever they go. The atmosphere’s always thick and rich, emotionally vibrant. I look forward to reading anything that she writes.
Thank you Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for making this available.

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After Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan is back with a punch. Late In The Day includes three short stories: So Late in the Day, The Long and Painful Death, and Antarctica.

Normally short stories aren’t my jam, but Claire Keegan knows how to expertly tell a story in a short amount of time. Her prose is so smooth that her books flow naturally, captivating the reader.

This collection of short stories focuses on the dynamic between male and female characters. Late In The Day felt so realistic that the male subject reminded me of someone that I know.

My favorite story is The Long and Painful Death. There is some symbolism going on, and I would love to give it a reread. What does the window represent? My windows actually have their seals broken so the view isn’t quite what it used to be. That sounds like the basis for another short story…..

This book is small but mighty.

Perfect if you want a short read for a book club! Or if you just like books that give food for thought.

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This collection republishes three short stories—"Antarctica" from her debut short story collection by the same name; "A Long and Painful Death" from "Walk the Blue Fields"; and "So Late in the Day" which recently featured in the New Yorker. Together they are a compelling examination of misogyny in both its most most subtle and most extreme manifestations.

In "So Late in the Day", the male narrator, Cathal, gets engaged to a French woman, Sabine (the name obviously recalls the infamous myth of the Sabine women, the people whom the early Romans supposedly stole from a neighboring tribe in order to have wives and beget children). It is a doomed proposal. Cathal complains when he finds out there is an additional fee for the ring-resizing; he complains about the cost of cherries when Sabine wants to bake a clafoutis; he complains when she moves her stuff into the house. He doesn't really want a marriage; he wants the ease and convenience of a wife and, when called out, he is apologetic but also complacent. He thinks that an apology is enough. He assumes that her cooking is an act of love and doesn't understand that love especially has to be reciprocated. In a telling moment, he recalls a time when his mother made buttermilk pancakes. When she was about to sit down and eat her plate, his brother moved the chair from behind her and she fell to the ground. He, his brother and father all laughed—laughing because her love and labor are gratis; her pain is a joke. Cathal never understands that he has to give something in return. As Sabine says, "Misogyny is simply about not giving. Not giving us the vote, not giving help with the dishes. It's all clitched to the same wagon" and all Cathal can do in return is correct her grammar. It's a pointed story that explores the uncomfortable realities of everyday misogyny that the men are only half-willing to acknowledge.

In "A Long and Painful Death", a retired professor of German literature mysteriously arrives at the writer's residency, the Henry Böll house, where a woman is working on her next stories. Imposing his company on the younger writer, bad at chit-chat, not wanting to talk about Henry Böll or her own writing, the professor slowly proceeds to question all contemporary literature and her own purpose of writing. He only visits her to patronizingly impugn her vocation. In "Antarctica", a married woman tries to have a one-night affair with a man, but it unexpectedly goes awry. In each of these stories, Claire Keegan is a master of prose—terse, subtle, microscopically observant.

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I"m always recommending Claire Keegan to those who may not know her. She's such a skilled storyteller and her work just describes common lived experiences in a way that is so pround. So Late in the Day is no exception – my only complaint is that it isn't long enough! I can't wait for Claire to hopefully one day write a full-length novel.

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Reading a Claire Keegan novel or short story is like walking into the life of a person who instantly feels familiar. I had read two of these stories in previous collections, I believe they were both in Antarctica.
I love Claire Keegan’s writing style and will always read and recommend anything she writes, but I wish she would have counteracted these rather grim stories with a more upbeat tale.

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Claire Keegan remains the queen of short stories for me. This isn’t even a form of writing I typically enjoy, but she writes with such passion and precision. Not a word wasted. You are pulled in with her description of the most banal things. And she can give a commentary on society and the patriarchy in just a few pages. All that said, I didn’t enjoy this collection of stores quite as much as previous stories like “Foster” and “Small Things Like These”. Each story focuses on how men control, manipulate, and exploit women. These don’t feel hopeful, but rather a grim look at reality. Still a solid four stars!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Her stories are knock-outs, every single time. I am still reeling from the ending of the third one, still thinking of the narrator of the second story, still shaking my head over the narrator of the first.

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Exactly what you'd expect from a short story collection by Claire Keegan; somewhat cozy, moving, and heartfelt. Think we'll have a lot of readers gravitate towards this.

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So Late in The Day is a collection of three short stories written by Claire Keegan. Each story is significantly different from the other and serves a different theme. The namesake story is about a man named Cathal who loses the chance to marry the love of his life because of his own woes. I enjoyed this story the most out of the three because of how well written it was and how the ending of the story packs a punch. The story starts off after Cathal meets this unnamed woman he falls for, you can see how plain and banal his life is. Then it cuts to him meeting her and how it feels as if color is introduced in his vision when he meets her and gets to know her. Though, the story quickly takes a turn of events which I personally did not expect but it was a transgression that I absolutely loved. To an extent, I feel that it is amazing commentary on the complexities of female-male relationships and language used between both sexes that are very different from one another.

The second story, The Long and Painful Death, was not my favorite out of the three which is essentially why I gave it 4.5 stars as the rating rather than 5. I feel that the quirkiness of both characters in the story is wonderful but there were points where I got a bit bored of the writing and felt something needed to be added to the story. The part I most enjoyed though was the odd voyeurism aspect of watching the female character move along with her day and watching her rage over her visitor.

Lastly, the third story, Antarctica, follows a married woman who is curious about sleeping with a man when she is out of town Christmas shopping for her family. As the story progresses, we see her slowly let loose and do as she pleases. She happily goes along with this man who she meets in a bar and has her rendezvous but what she doesn’t expect is the frightening quality of losing all freedom to the hands of a stranger with a disguise. The ending is amazing and unexpected, I think the order the stories were put in was an amazing choice made by Claire Keegan. I feel that I actually enjoyed these stories more than Foster which is surprising since I rated it 5 stars. But each story has a quality to it that is addicting and this is a novel everyone should read especially for anyone who is a fan of Claire Keegan’s work.

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4 stars

What a joy it is to read the spare prose of Claire Keegan. If you haven’t done so yet, I highly recommend her work. I’ve personally enjoyed Small Things Like These and Foster, and was thrilled to have the chance to read an advance copy of So Late in the Day, Keegan’s latest trio short tales related focusing on the personal dynamics between women and men.

Of the three pieces, I preferred the first one, So Late in in the Day, from which the collection takes its title. But each of the stories shines an unflinching light on how the sexes tear down connects between each other. Issues such as unrealistic expectation, deep seated hostilities and the possibility of violence all come into play here. Although this may sound heavy, Keegan’s talent for showing the human condition made the subject matter very palpable for me.

If any of this peaks your interest, I highly recommend that you read So Late in the Day when it is released.

Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest, unbiased review.

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Thank you to Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on November 13, 2023. Once again, Claire Keegan crafts highly visual and descriptive stories filled with the unsaid. This small tome includes three short stories: So Late In the Day - a man asks a woman he's been dating for a short time to move in and marry him; The Long and Painful Death - a woman is temporarily living in the historic home of a writer and a visiting professor asks to take a tour of the house; Antarctica - a happily married woman wonders what it would feel to sleep with another man and finds out on a weekend away. My favorite was So Late in Day. These stories of every day life mundane yet striking in their own ways. There's something special about this author's prose.

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i've been meaning to read stuff by claire keegan for a while now, but this felt passingly mediocre? maybe it's just me but i didn't jive with the prose too much. perhaps i'll try another book by her but this one didn't do it for me. it's not bad, it just wasn't emotional for me in any meaningful sense of the word.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic (Grove Press) for the e-ARC of this book. I have previously read Foster by Claire Keegan and found it incredibly deep and reflective despite its brevity. I was very keen to read more by the author.

So Late in the Day had the usual incredibly deep and layered prose by Keegan and the three stories were united by the themes of marriage and gender roles. Keegan is able to write easy-to-read prose which is deep as the ocean, and I will never tire to read her little masterpieces. I found the themes of this story very important and they made me reflect a lot. The characters are so hard to love but it is a delight to debate those kinds of questions in your mind as you are reading and long after. The first story was very effective and the tone was perfectly crude and realistic, while the other two had more of an eerie and mysterious tone which was not as enjoyable for me.

I would 100% reccommend this book!!!

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Claire Keegan composes stories with such clear, beautiful efficiency. Reading her newest trio of stories, So Late in the Day, is such.a treat for readers and a master class in how much can be conveyed in so little space. Each of these three stories looks at the interactions between men and women. These stories hum with tension and the threat of violence. This tension between characters, strangers and lovers and past lovers, teases out the uneven power dynamics. Keegan crafts stories that linger, and this trio is another example of her remarkable gifts.

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When I saw Claire Keegan had a new book available on @Netgalley, I immediately requested it without any further research. Much to my surprise, So Late in The Day: Stories of Women and Men, actually features three short stories with similar themes that have been previously published and are now being rereleased as a collection.

This collection can be read in a sitting and that is how I recommend consuming it. I enjoyed deciphering the through line between each story while also marveling at the way Keegan is able to stretch as an author in tone within each story. The last story in the collection, Antarctica, is probably the shortest but packs the biggest punch. I really look forward to reading more of her work and have definitely reconsidered my thoughts on short story collections.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I've always loved Clare Keegan's writing, she is an author who manages to convey so much in so few well chosen words. These short stories were no exception, and left me thinking about them long after I'd finished the book.
My only negative comment would be that I had already read Antartica in a book of short stories of that name published in 2013. 1 star to the publisher who led me to believe they were all new short stories, but 5 to Ms keegan for her writing.
Thank you to netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of this book

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A really easy to read short story on the difference small gestures and acts of kindness can impact a romantic relationship and whether it is worth being right or worth saving your relationship.

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I've throughly enjoyed Claire Keegan's earlier writing (Small Things Like These, Foster) so was excited to hear of an upcoming working - this time, in the plural! "So Late in the Day" is a collection of 3 short stories that traverse disparate storylines and individuals, but feel correctly placed together in their examination of the complex dynamic and relationships between women and men.

The first piece is also the longest, as "So Late in the Day" takes on the perspective of a man named Cathal as he goes through his day-to-day in Ireland. Going from his workplace to his home, his memories take him back to the time he spent with a woman named Sabine, from their first interaction to the eventual proposal, to her attempts to move in with Cathal - all the while nodding towards the ultimate failure of the relationship. These glimpses in the past paint Cathal in a harsh light, noting his stinginess when it came to minor amounts of money and his lack of appreciation for the effort and work that Sabine put in. "The Long and Painful Death" takes on the perspective of a woman who moves into sought-after a home called the Böll house due to her successful writing residency, and extends an invitation to visit when a fellow male academic pesters her multiple times. We see the boundaries the guest promptly stomps over and the misogyny women have to endure, even in the most surface-level interactions. Finally, in "Antarctica", a woman desires to shed the responsibilities of being a wife and mother for a brief weekend, and takes a trip into he city. What should be a couple days of fun and light-heartedness ends in something far more sinister at the hands of the unknown stranger she meets.

Each of these stories are thought-provoking and shine a light on the inequity and imbalance between genders - both in and out of romantic relationships. The writer in "The Long and Painful Death" is immediately disregarded as undeserving because she is a woman, despite her attempts at hospitality and allowing a stranger into her home. "Antarctica" shines a light on the underlying physical dangers women have to endure on a regular basis, and "So Late in the Day" shows the imbalance of emotional and physical labor that women are expected to put in a relationship. Each of these stories are beautifully crafted and atmospheric, and Keegan's prose is as alluring as it's always been; I'm always impressed at the depth of characters and plot she's able to create despite so few pages being needed.

Very much a recommended read for "So Late in the Day" is published in November 2023!

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Claire Keegan is a skilled writer but I just couldn’t relate to these stories especially the last one Antarctic. It reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies where the woman gets punished for having desire.

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