This book had 2-3 highlightable quotes and apparently exemplifies historical atrocities I wasn’t previously educated about. Three stars for those efforts.
Otherwise, I’m not blown away. The pace of the book is inconsistent, starting so dully and boring until a compressed ending that just… stopped abruptly. I suppose the point wasn’t to end it. But I just can’t quite get over the thought of “… okay?”
Also, the 80s Irish language apparently is not easy to read as an American.

Set in the days leading up to Christmas 1985 in the small Irish town of New Ross, this short, sensitive novel focuses on the moral dilemma faced by its central character, Bill Furlong, who was born illegitimate just after World War II. His mother had been a domestic in the “big house” owned by Mrs. Wilson, a well-to-do Protestant widow, whose husband was killed in the war. When she fell pregnant, Bill’s mother was permitted to stay on at Mrs. Wilson’s. More than that, the widow was supportive of the unfortunate young woman and took a keen interest in Bill. He was protected in a way that the illegitimate children of other young unmarried Irish women were not. Even so, school life was painful for him. Bill stood apart from the other children, regularly enduring ugly name calling. Shame was a constant companion.,

Now approaching forty, Bill runs his own fuel business. Life is challenging. It’s a time of economic hardship, and many people are struggling to put food on the table, never mind warm their homes. Bill has a wife, and five daughters, who need looking after. He may love Eileen, but there is tension in the marriage. Much of this is related to Bill’s softheartedness—his sensitivity to the difficult circumstances others find themselves in and his willingness to postpone payment for fuel or to entirely forgive debt. —but some of it is related to Eileen’s awareness of her husband’s less-than-respectable beginnings. Keegan is too fine a writer to paint Eileen as a villain. She is depicted as a pragmatic, efficient, and even canny woman who wants the best for her daughters. Nevertheless, a cruel dig at Bill, which arises from her resentment about his tendency to help others at the expense of getting ahead himself made me dislike her intensely. Perhaps that’s testimony to just how skillful a writer Keegan is. Eileen seems very real.

The conflict at the centre of the novel concerns something Bill sees when he makes a pre-Christmas coal delivery to the town’s convent with its Magdalene laundry. <spoiler>Opening the storage shed, he finds a bedraggled young woman who has been left out in the cold for days, apparently for acting up when her baby was taken from her by the nuns.</spoiler> His own early experiences do not permit him to look away from the suffering of others. Indeed, they ultimately dictate the actions he takes.

I’m afraid that I’m not a neutral reader where the Roman Catholic Church is concerned. I acknowledge that I’m deeply biased against it for its hypocrisy, abuse of power, tolerance of the clerical sexual abuse of children, and its misogynistic practices. As quiet, sensitive, and nuanced as Keegan’s story is, it still managed to inflame me.

Bill Furlong is a fortunate man. Born to an unwed mother who was taken in by her employer in 1940s Ireland, Bill was fortunate enough to be raised in the Wilson household and given opportunities to make a good life for himself. As a married man with children, he runs a coall and timber company, supplying these power sources to the community. He finds himself delivering to the convent of the Good Shepherd nuns, where they also had a training school and a laundry business, whose purpose was surrounded by rumor. It is during two such deliveries that Bill witnesses such things that make him question his own life and its purpose. Such is the story where Bill understands how his life is such that he feels a deep need to help others, no matter the consequences, and he acts upon those feelings. This is a very quick read that makes a reader understand that while many of us concern ourselves with small everyday things, there are others that everyday things are a horrible part of their life. Worthwhile to read. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Grove Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #SmallThingsLikeThese #NetGalley.

This was the perfect wintery read! Though small, it was the perfect short tale for a cozy night in, and I was grateful that Ann Patchett recommended it on her Laydown Diaries!

This was such an amazing read, so short, but not one word was wasted. I cut right to the core of old Ireland, and how some people, despite public opinion, despite the strength of the Catholic 'Monarchy' still chose right over wrong in selfless acts of love. Bill's character was adorable, I love him. And his wife was a typical God fearing, society fearing woman of her times. The nuns were depicted exactly as I envision they were at that time- existing on pedestals of society's and the church's making, forcing their values on all. This book was just fantastic.

<i>Thanks to the publisher for the free review copy.</i>

I got this book for review months ago and then promptly forgot about it. (Oops!) Recently, though, I've been seeing this book cropping up everywhere — from bestseller lists to bookseller recommendations at my favorite spots. Everyone seems to be raving about it.

It's a very short read — my version was only 70 pages of actual story content — and it took me under an hour to get through. Although short, it's very powerful: <i>Small Things Like These</i> focuses on the Magdalen laundries in Ireland, where unwed mothers were put to work and their babies taken away from them and sometimes killed. I had no idea these existed at all, but apparently the last one closed as recently as 1996. I've seen this book compared to <i>It's a Wonderful Life</i> and in some senses it is: we go through the life of Bill Furlong, the son of an unwed mother who was kindly taken in by her employer and thus avoided the horror of going to a laundry. Bits and pieces of his past in the 1940s and his present in 1985 are interwoven. However, unlike <i>It's a Wonderful Life</i>, we don't really get to go that in-depth into Furlong's life because it's so short. Many plot points are only hinted at, and you have to read between the lines quite a bit. That being said, Claire Keegan definitely has a way with words, and her detached-yet-emotive style is what makes this whole book work.

If you're looking for a short, <i>It's a Wonderful Life</i>-esque read, this one may be for you — it wasn't my favorite, but fear from my least favorite either.

Fictional work based on history has charm of reminding the bitterness and cruelty that human race possesses. Claire Keegan with his beautiful prose sketches 1985 Ireland society in “Small Things Like These” to offer us the painful history of Magdalen laundries of the country along with the fate of ‘fallen’ women and girls under oppressive hands of religious order.

In this short book Keegan presents us Bill Furlong, a coal merchant who himself was raised by his mother,now dead, without knowledge about his father. Bill, a good person was living life peacefully with a wife and five daughters until he found a girl in the coal cellar of the convent where he delivered coal. Though Bill was startled to act immediately, he rescued the girl to save himself from the rebuke of conscience fully knowing the future consequences of the matter on his family.

With carefully chosen words Keegan delivers a heavy punch with true facts of longlost bitter history about the cruelty of the nuns and Magdalen laundries in a judgemental society. The horrible chapter of the time was financed by catholic churches and Irish state. The horrible atmosphere has a similarlarity with Canadian residential schools where graves were found in school yards.

This book is for sure a great choice for History lovers. As a student and fan of Canadian literature and History, I thoroughly enjoyed the similar atmosphere in the book.

I honestly thank Claire Keegan for providing us such authentic and important work. I heartily thank both NetGalley and Grove press (Grove Atlantic) for providing such an amazing ARC.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic for the publicity review copy of SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE.

If I didn't already have tickets booked to Ireland for later this year, I would definitely being doing so now.
This is an incredible piece of writing, full of sense of place (rural Irish town), time (1950s), and season (almost Christmas). I highly recommend grabbing a cuppa and sitting down with this book - it's so good.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

I absolutely adored this beautiful, powerful, heartbreaking novel. What a huge talent Ms Keegan is to create such a thing as a Small Things Like These. I am in awe. Everyone should read this book.

Give me an Irish tale and it’s hard for me not to be completely enamored. Easily read in one or two sittings.

40-something year old Bill Furlong feels restless at Christmastime and explores the ways in which his heart beats against the grain of his Irish Catholic town.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a lovely treasure of a book about Bill Furlong and his family who live in a small town in Ireland. Small Things Like These is a story about love, hope, and family; Furlong must make a difficult decision while trying to do what is right. This short read will stay with you long after you've read it.

This is a beautiful, powerful book with such heart. Its set in the bitter winter of 1985 in Ireland and we witness the life of coal merchant Bill Furlong, a working class father to five young girls. Bill then discovers a teen in desperate need of his help.
This is a literary piece of brilliance - emotional and memorable.

This one might have went over my head. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters and I was just kind of going through the motions with it

Small Things Like These was such a great story.. Claire Keegan, transports the reader to a small Irish town, a few weeks before Christmas.. Bill Furlong is a hard working family man.. He is a coal merchant and one morning he heads up to the convent and finds something that will turn his world upside down.. He must face his past and he must go against the church.. This writing is beauty and the characters are lovely. This story has so much hope.. I loved how such a serious topic could have such empathy for someone in need.. I really enjoyed this story and I want to a thank Netgalley & Claire Keegan for my copy, for an honest review.. It was an absolute pleasure to read… I hope you enjoy it as much as I did..

A perfect novella to read anytime really but especially at Christmas time. This short novella is touching, memorable and packs a punch. The writing is gorgeous and the message powerful. I would highly recommend this book.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. The thing I take most from this book is how much it made me think. Heavy topics are presented so subtly that it left me thinking about them long after the book was over. The novella centers around Furlong, a hard worker with a wife and four daughters. His mother was unmarried when he was born, but luckily the woman she worked for allowed her to stay on. This book taught me about the existence of Magdelene laundries - essentially prisons/forced labor for women in Ireland. Many different types of women ended up there, unwed mothers included. Furlong delivers wood to one of these laundries along his usual route, which is the crux of the novella.

The novella itself didn't grip me and hold my attention - the pace is slow and reflects the winter season it is set in. However, it's one that will leave you thinking, and for that I appreciate it.

Thank you for providing me with an arc. I found the novel to be overall quite thoughtful and thought-provoking! I wasn’t sure this would be as good as it was and it exceeded my expectations. I am definitely looking forward to what this author is going to put our next! Thank you for providing me with an arc. I found the novel to be overall quite thoughtful and thought-provoking! I wasn’t sure this would be as good as it was and it exceeded my expectations. I am definitely looking forward to what this author is going to put our next!

This is a perfect little book to read as a palate cleanser between giant chunky novels. Don’t let it’s small size deceive you though, it’s beautifully written and you won’t want it to end. Great to read during the holiday season too as it takes place near Christmastime.

a quiet novella written without fuss with a slice of life insight into the head of Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, and his empathy when he meets a girl from the local convent laundry. Absolutely lovely to read though maybe you'd need some real life historical context to fully absorb what was happening?

“Character is doing the right thing even when nobody’s looking “ …JC Watts Jr. The writing is very creative and accurate with memorable characters and Bill will stay with me a long time. Ireland has some history that I was never aware of.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.