I received an advanced copy of this book from Grove Atlantic through NetGalley. I thank Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Small Things Like These by Claire Keene in exchange for an honest review.

Small Things Like These is a beautifully written story about a small village in Ireland at Christmas time in 1985. The story opens describing the village, Bill Furlong, the central figure in the story, and his family and neighbors. I immediately found myself immersed in this story and soon had a vivid picture of the village in my mind. 1985 was a tough year with businesses closing and people left with little in their pockets. Yet the people in this village were anticipating the Christmas holiday with excitement. Everyone knew everyone else; hence, gossip abounded and not all of it was based on fact.

I liked Bill Furlong very much. He was a kind, generous and compassionate man; a father of five daughters, a business owner of a coal and timber company. He was good to his employees and tried to help those less fortunate whenever he could.

Bill's mother was 16 years old and unwed when he was born. Bill was raised in the home where she and Ned, the handyman, worked. Mrs Wilson, the woman they worked for, provided a home for the three of them. She treated him well, helping him with his studies and making sure he was always warm and fed. Still, Bill often wondered who his father was. Years later, he finally sees a copy of his birth certificate, he's disappointed to see "Unknown" written in the box "Father's Name".

Remember, this is Ireland in 1985 where unwed, pregnant women were shunned. Bill was bullied as a kid yet had fond memories of growing up in Mrs. Wilson's home and spending time with Ned, especially after his mom dies when he was 12 years-old.

As soon as I realized there was a “home” for unwed/wayward girls in this village I surmised what was coming next. Ireland had many such homes run by the Roman Catholic Church. The Nuns were anything but kind, and the girls housed there were, for lack of a description, treated like slaves. The Church pretty much controlled the villages and towns where the homes were located and Bill's village was no exception to that rule.

Bill regularly delivered coal to the convent and stopped there during Christmas Eve day to make a delivery. What he witnessed left him appalled and disgusted. He wanted to do something about what happened while he was there but convinced himself there was nothing he could do.

He headed home to prepare for church but he could not get the scene at the convent out of his mind. Church services did not calm him nor did his time trimming the tree with his daughters as his wife prepared the cakes. He had to get out of the house and headed to Mrs. Wilson’s house to visit with Ned. This visit played a critical role in his self-awareness.

As Bill made his rounds to his customers homes, dropping off coal or wood to keep their homes warm, he pondered who was he; was he just existing or was there more he could be doing? Was he happy and content or was he going along with life because it was easier than challenging the norm? At this point in the story becomes apparent that Bill is about to make a life changing decision for himself and his family.

I will stop here because I don’t want to add “spoiler alerts”. I will say that the end of this novella is the most moving and poignant part of Bill Furlong’s story.

This was a lovely book about compassion. The writing was impeccable, with descriptions that evoked a strong sense of place (1980s, Ireland). Also, each character felt fully realized and human. I would love to read more about the people in this struggling town and the kind narrator at the center of this story.

Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!

What a lovely novella! Even if it's not exactly a happy story; it simply depicts life. Plain as that. The plot also includes a rough situation that was going on in Ireland during the 80s, which only made the story the more emotional.

Bill Furlong, the protagonist, is an endearing character we get to know deeply. Not only do we learn about his past but we wander through what's going on in his mind, which was my favorite part.

Small Things Like These is very short but full of wonders. Claire Keegan's prose is beautiful. I'd happily read her again and again. I fell in love with the way she so accurately describes feelings, right on point. As always, I highlighted my favorite passages. Way too many, I believe. Truly loved loved loved her writing.

This is a tale about kindness in its purest form.

I wish I'd read this during Christmas time near a cozy fireplace and with snow falling outside…

Spoiler:
Of course the book made me remember the movie The Magdalene Sisters. It's rough but I do recommend watching it to get to know more about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in return for my honest review.
This is a marvelous and touching book about one man, Bill Furlong, whose life around Christmas in 1985 is just a marvelous short story, It is a book that can easily be read in one day, and if given the choice of Christmas books I would select this over A Christmas Carol. It is a touching story of an Irish gentleman who is married and has 5 daughters, and owns his own coal/timber business. He has no idea who his father was, since the birth certificate was marked Unknown, and after his mother died he was raised by a neighbor.. He reflects on his life, he reflects on not having a father, on never getting the one thing he wanted from Santa Claus - a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle about a farm. He has become successful, but not wealthy, he lives simply and you can tell his love for his own family. One day he delivers a load of wood to the convent and discovers a young girl locked in a coal bin, and he becomes almost a different person. I have a hard time writing about this book without providing spoilers, and also because it is one of the most unique novellas I have read. It is a story of love, kindness, cruelty and about the infamous Magdalen Laundries in Ireland, established by the Catholic Church and the source of shameful treatment for most of the young ladies who pass through.
Quite simply, give this book a read. It is just a heartwarming story that will possibly bring a tear to your eye by the time you finish.

Small Things Like These captures a man's internal struggles to do what is right by others, but having to keep in mind his own family. The novella ends in a cliff hanger, with Bill feeling fear and hope at the same time as he is bound to face the consequence of his actions.
It's a short novella, but it's enough to show the slow, mundane living of an Irish man, his day to day job as he cares for his family by working as a coal and timber merchant, and the hidden attrocities performed by the Catholic Church.
Any writings that bring forth what the Church has covered over the years, and the people's complicit silence make me question human's love for their neighbour. However, Bill comes to understand that no day is worth living if one doesn't help his fellow human.
It's a quick read, but full of depth and humanity. It sure made me wonder what awaited Bill and Sarah, the girl he rescues from the convent. The novella shines light over the quiet heroism of a simple man faced with the huge hidden sins of the Catholic Church and its parishioners.

5★
“He thought of Mrs Wilson, of her daily kindnesses, of how she had corrected and encouraged him, of the small things she had said and done and had refused to do and say and what she must have known, the things which, when added up, amounted to a life.”

Bill Furlong was born in Ireland to a 16-year-old girl who worked for Mrs Wilson, a comfortably well-off woman who was happy to keep his mother and her baby in her home. She was kind and generous, without going overboard. Furlong did his schoolwork and grew up to be a kind man who never knew who his father was.

He’s now the father of five girls himself, and he knows without a doubt, how lucky he was to have Mrs Wilson in his life. He sells coal, anthracite, logs and whatever else people need to keep warm. It’s 1985 and bitterly cold.

“In October there were yellow trees. Then the clocks went back the hour and the long November winds came in and blew, and stripped the trees bare. In the town of New Ross, chimneys threw out smoke which fell away and drifted off in hairy, drawn-out strings before dispersing along the quays, and soon the river, dark as stout, swelled up with rain.”

Some of his customers can’t afford to pay him, but he supplies them anyway. He has a soft heart and gives a few coins to a little fellow in the road who is trying to find some sticks for the family fire. The boy’s father is a falling-down drunk, and Bill’s wife, Eileen, begrudges Bill taking the time (and money) to worry about someone else’s child.

“‘You know some of these bring the hardship on themselves?’

‘Tis not the child’s doing, surely.’”>

Eileen says the boy’s drunken father should “‘pull himself out of it’

‘Maybe the man isn’t able.’

‘I suppose.’ She reached over and turned out the light. ‘Always there’s one that has to pull the shortest straw.’

Some nights, Furlong lay there with Eileen, going over small things like these.”

When he delivers to the nearby convent, he discovers the young girls who are working in the laundry, hidden away and living in dreadful circumstances, virtually slaves. The contrast between their lives and his daughters’ lives, girls who are writing to Santa and looking forward to Christmas, is more than he wants to think about. It seems easier to just go through the daily routine and not think too much.

“A part of him wished it was a Monday morning, that he could just put his head down and drive on out the roads and lose himself in the mechanics of the ordinary, working week. Sundays could feel very threadbare, and raw.”

There are countless small things in this small book, all of them remarkable, by which I mean they are worth remarking. Some are irritations and worries, some are the ways he feels lucky and ways he would like to share that luck.

The author notes:

“This is a work of fiction based in no part on any individual or individuals. Ireland’s last Magdalen laundry was not closed down until 1996.”

I loved this and can’t recommend it highly enough. What an excellent little book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the copy for review.

A wonderful, short novella, that reminds you to keep things in perspective and to use what you do have to make a difference in others' lives. Furlong, husband, father of 5 girls, and coal/timber seller, gears up for the Christmas and holiday season-when people need his goods the most, and when some hearts are opened and inclined to see the good that needs to be done. On his drop-off route, he comes across something that he can't shake out of his mind, and he has to decide whether or not he will do something about it.

Just because the story is short doesn't mean it's not packed full of meaning and heart! I found myself feeling the struggle of it all along with Furlong. This would be a great book to read in a comfy chair in the winter beside a quiet fire. Recommended if you like a short story with a somewhat uplifting message, like to see people make good decisions in the face of adversity, want to learn a little piece of Irish history, or don't mind a story that has happiness and sadness all wrapped into one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the e-ARC.

An Irish family who seems to have everything they need to make them happy and content - a decent income compared to the situation of the country, five smart, respectful, and joyful daughters, a staple marriage. Yet, Furlong (the father) has his mind unsettled, worrying, and feels unsatisfied. What are these small things that keep him from being complete?

I honestly enjoyed this book a lot. Even if it is short, it carries so many emotions and perfectly makes its point. I was not particularly attracted by the « Irish family in the 80’s », at least it is not what motivated me to read this book. I wanted to understand the family, figure out what was off, but above all what keeps them together.

It is impressive how with so little, we can do that much. Furlong has only enough to make his family comfortable, but he still finds a way to do good around him, with small gestures, a little attention, and a lot of kindness. This is what people notice and remember.

Small Things Like These is just the same. The shortness of the book does not mean it has nothing to give - the reader gets a lot. I closed the book feeling hopeful, and ready to tackle life with a little more kindness.

I won’t say much more, except that it is worth reading. Read this book, and you will be thankful (to everything: your life, your family, and everything else).

Special thanks to Netgalley and Grove Press for sharing a digital copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

A warm and beautiful story about a man faced with community pressure, making a decision to act rightly. A lovely tearjerker of a novella.

First and foremost, a big thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Small Things Like These is Claire Keegan's momentous new novel, the story of one man's courage — and a magnificent portrayal of love and family. The year is 1985, and the setting is a little Irish town. Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father of five daughters, confronts his busiest season in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Bill makes a discovery early one morning while delivering an order to the local convent that compels him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a church-controlled town.

It is short, fast-paced, and a wonderful story. What really impresses me is Claire's ability to model all of the emotions and ideals into a short, yet coherent novel. Nonetheless, the grandeur of this tale is incredibly powerful and ground-breaking for the time period in which it is set. Despite the fact that it is a one-sitting read, it will undoubtedly make a lasting impression on the readers.

Small Things Like these is an incredibly moving and inspiring narrative about optimism, modest valor, and humanity. Claire's writing has piqued my interest, and I'm eager to read more of it.

This was a quick easy read, the things I love being, Irish, Christmas and hope. It is a charming story, it is a feel good story, it shows there are good people in the world when bad things happen.

I love that it just isn't all negative and depressing but uplifting and heart-felt. This book/novella should get everyone thinking and feeling as it is full of hope and emotion, kindness, beauty and tenderness.

I recommend everyone read this and I plan on looking up more books by Claire Keegan soon.

Small Things Like These
It was 1985 and Bill Furlong was the owner of a business that supplied fuel to the people in his small Irish town. Bill, the father of 5 daughters, was the son of a local unwed woman. His mother had worked for a generous childless widow, Mrs. Wilson. The older woman did not force the pregnant girl to leave once her condition was discovered. Instead Mrs. Wilson gave the girl and her son a home. Mrs. Wilson encouraged Bill and shared her books with the boy.
After his mother died when Bill was 12, he was sent by Mrs. Wilson to technical school and worked his way up to ownership of his business. Bill married Eileen and they had a lovely family.
That year days before Christmas, Bill made a delivery to the local laundry run by nuns. There in a shed he discovered a young girl living in filth who begged him to help her escape. The girl had given birth to a child recently but that child was taken away by the nuns immediately after birth.
This discovery made Bill examine his own life and how his own mother could have been in a similar situation if not for Mrs. Wilson.
This story is a short one and gives a look at one of the Magdalene homes where pregnant and unmarried Irish girls were concealed, incarcerated and forced to work after having their babies. The babies were offered for adoption to wealthy people in Ireland and abroad. The last of these institutions were closed in 1996.
The story is well written and one that the reader will remember for a long time.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As Keegan moves across from short stories to her first novel here she chooses to address one of the recent – but ongoing – shames of Ireland. The year is 1985 when the Irish economy never strong at the best of times is back in recession. In the course of a few weeks around Christmas Bill Furlong a coal and timber merchant finds himself facing challenges of his life and beliefs. He is married with five growing daughters. But money in his life is still constrained and care needs to be taken. As a business owner he is responsible for the welfare of his staff, but is subject to the whims of his customers. But having been raised from a life of poverty he is still inclined to support others in greater poverty, regarding himself as blessed.
When he goes to deliver coal to the local nunnery (with its attached school and “home” for unmarried mothers) he discovers a young lassie locked in the coal shed in appalling weather. He is invited in to tea with the Reverend Mother and is told that it was an unfortunate “accident”. Initially he will not challenge this staged conversation. But later it causes him great distress and he has to decide whether he will react to the situation.
Throughout this slight, but deep, tale Keegan gradually reveals the back story to his life. He had been born to an unmarried teenage servant to an apparently unknown father. But against the normal usage of the time his mother had been allowed to stay in the household of her widowed Protestant employer. He had been raised in the household and first his education had been paid for and then this extraordinary woman had given him money to set up his own business before her death. This had created the foundations of his life, security, his marriage and family.
About the same time whispers had been starting to circulate in the area about abuse of the young women at the home. But the church was still powerful and crossing the religious establishment would have been dangerous. Bill’s experiences start to make these whispers more real and in a very personal way. If things had been different his mother might have been treated similarly forty years earlier and his life would have been entirely different.
But in the face of established power, when the supposed centre of morality is profoundly corrupt and abusive, who will have the courage to challenge that behaviour, or indeed stand against it. The risks to a family man are not just personal but to his whole family. If raised in poverty and social exclusion would this be something to risk for your loved children? But the whole community has seemingly accepted this kind of “non awareness” for decades, using it as an excuse to do nothing. How easy is it to challenge their collusion with action?
Quietly Keegan has skewered the hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church and its leaders, but also asks questions of why a wider community will allow abuse to constantly play itself out virtually under their noses. Is poverty an excuse? Is established habit an excuse? What will cause the situation to change? How much damage will have been caused before that happens. The way this novel unravels, so quietly, it almost seems to hint that what happened was inevitable. But the response she attributes to Bill by contrast questions that lazy assumption and asks many more questions about both personal and community morality. So be aware this is not going to be an easy read. The best thing that maybe could be said is it shows how far Ireland has moved in these matters in the last thirty five years, until one remembers that thirty five years might be half a lifetime for many. This story is therefore still a living reality.

This is a little gem of a story based on true events and is told so well. I was very pleasantly surprised and very moved.

Claire's writing is superb - so much said in a few words. I was instantly brought back to my childhood in the '80s All the Christmas preparations, the shop windows, clothes, food, weather talk, nuns; everything is all beautifully and succinctly done.

Such an important topic too. I'm delighted that control the CC had is gone and respect now has to be earned rather than expected.

It's a quick read and well worth taking the time to do so. Bravo.

At odds with his religion, and his wife, straightforward and simply living Bill Furlong steps out of his Christian comfort zone to follow his moral duty in this spare novella.
It's a small story, contiguous with the majority of lives we lead, amongst an ocean of literary drama that would cause all but the strongest of us to stroke out.
So much wisdom in such a small package reflecting a lot of what most of us endure every day without knowing it.
The ironies of Faith in lines such as "Always, Christmas brought out the best and the worst in people", and the withering, self effacing " 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?".

Such work as this is rare , all too rare. Well done Claire Keegan, I say

Appreciate NetGalley, Author Claire Keegan & Publisher Grove Atlantic Press for giving me the e-ARC of this book. I am willingly leaving my review in exchange for its complimentary copy.

This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt. - Arundhati Roy, The God Of Small Things.

It is the minute generous actions that always direct to something big in response. With only 130 pages to read, this novella is complete with values, knowledge & utmost raw, pure emotions. Though a product of fiction, the account has pulled motivation from real-life situations of Ireland's Magdalen laundries. The writer has ingrained in me that any act of humanity is never lost; it always returns, even in little ways.

The narrative is based in the season of 1985, round Christmas, in a humble Irish township. Though I am not very knowledgeable of how it was in 1985 or anything of Irish societies, the writer, by her story-telling, set a clear image for me to visualize the situations & savor them. I was absolutely stumped by its overall simplicity. There's a proverb in India, 'Chota packet, bada dhamaka.' (miniature package, big hit).

“This story is dedicated to the women and children who suffered time in Ireland’s Magdalen laundries”.

“‘I’d no call to say that to you, Bill,’ Eileen cooled. ‘But if we just mind what we have here and stay on the right side of people and soldier on, none of ours will ever have to endure the likes of what them girls go through”.

“Whatever suffering he was to meet was a long way from what the girl at his side had already endured, and might yet surpass”.

This book is a work of fiction but inspired by “The Magdalen Laundries” in Ireland. (also known as Magdalene asylums)….which operated from the 18th to the 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house ‘fallen women…..
an estimated 30,000 were confined in these institutions in Ireland.
In 1993, unmarked graves of 155 Women were uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries. The last Magdalen laundry was not closed down until 1996.

“It is not known how many girls and women were concealed, incarcerated and forced to labour in these institutions”.

Many girls and women lost their babies. Some lost their lives.
It was recently recognized and reported that the Mother and Baby Home Commission Report found that nine thousand children died in just eighteen of the institutions investigated. These institutions were run and financed by the Catholic Church.
No apology what is issued by the Irish government until 2013.

I had read Claire Keegan’s, tiny 95 page book, “Foster”, which was deeply touching and affecting (I still own a physical copy), a couple of years back. I knew ‘then’ how exquisite and powerful her writing was.
And now — with “Small Things Like These” ….
it only took the ‘very first’ sentence to realize - *Wow*….yep…
Claire Keegan commands our attention—with her gorgeous visual uncompromising attention to detail…..
“In October there were yellow trees. Then the clocks went back the hour and the long November winds came in and blew, and stripped the trees bare. In the town of New Ross, chimneys threw out smoke which fell away and drifted off in hairy, drawn-out strings before dispersing along the quays, and soon the river, dark as stout, swelled up with rain”.

We meet Bill Furlong, who was the father of five girls in this small Irish town. He was an honorable, reliable, good man…a family man.
Bill was born out of wedlock in 1946—by a 16-year-old mother who died when he was twelve. Bill never -ever- did find out who his father was. But a neighbor, Mrs. Wilson, (who’s husband had been killed in the war and had no children of her own), took Bill Furlong under her wing, gave him little jobs to do, and helped him with his reading. Bill worked his way up and had a talent for business.
By 1985, the adult Bill married Eileen. They had five daughters, [Kathleen, Joan, Sheila, Grace, and Loretta].

The town had a church, a coal yard, supermarket, Kehoe’s diner, (think fish & chips on Fridays), a bingo hall, St. Margaret’s school for girls, a post office, a hospital, a nursing home, a shoe store, a fertilizer factory, a florist shop, a Town Hall, Waterford Dept. Store, a mushroom factory, a funeral home, and local pubs… and a hotel in the nearby town of Enniscorthy.

Bill Furlong was a coal and timber merchant. He needed to make deliveries to the convent—the catholic run institution— just outside town— when he discover something is wrong….[cruel, inhumane, merciless conditions]…..
He was faced with a difficult choice, (confronted by social conformity pressures)…..
Bill needed to act in the most ethical manner, while exercising discretion.

Powerful - and exquisitely written. Can be read in one sitting.

“Small Things Like These”, by Claire Keegan — at only 128 pages proves that great things come in small packages.

Thank you Netgalley, Grove Atlantic, and Claire Keegan (I have two other of Claire’s books to read). Claire is a very intelligent author.
Her writing flows so effortlessly she makes it look simpler than it really must be.

Thank you Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. I always have a tender spot for a heart-warming Christmas story and a story from one of my favorite places to visit, Ireland.. In a pandemic-laden world right now where too many people just keep on doing their thing without a care for their fellow citizens, this story particularly hits home. Hard work. Love for family. Conscience. Care for others. These are are core components of humanity. This neat little package of a book reminds us of why it so important to maintain our humanity and do the right thing even when it seems hardest to do. #SmallThingsLikeThese should make it onto everyone's holiday gift list for 2021!

What a gem! Christmas approaches a small Irish town where Furlong, a fuel merchant, father of five, spends his days reminiscing and seeking an answer to a puzzle: Who is his father? He carried the stigma of illegitimacy through childhood and still, despite his loving wife and daughters, feels inadequate. Thinking of his mother’s suffering, he is haunted by a young girl from a Magdalen laundry whom he accidentally meets. She has recently given birth but her baby has been taken away and the young mother seems trapped in an abusive life. Clare Keegan’s tone is soft and lyrical as we accompany Furlong on his daily tasks and share his thoughts. Although at times disturbing to witness the far-reaching power of a cruel Church, it is comforting to watch our hero follow the advice of an old man that “the road would take him wherever he wanted” as he sets out to perform a Christmas deed. This novel is a treasure.