Claire Keegan does not disappoint 🙌🏼 Loved both FOSTER and SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by her previously and both left me in much admiration over her skill with the short story form. The precision! The impact! Each sentence and metaphor carefully considered. The weight of meaning imbuing every silence. She does the same again with the three stories in this collection, each of them having been published elsewhere previously.

All of the stories centre dynamics between different men and women, the little and big things that draw people to one another. Social constraints, barriers of communication, not realising that people aren’t what they seem, sometimes until it is too late. The only downside to this collection is that, being the length of three short stories, it was over before I knew it! Definitely keen to read more by her!

I’ve read and enjoyed a few of Claire Keegan’s short stories. So Late in the Day is her most recent story, which publishes November 14th, and I read it last month. I enjoyed the first two short stories, but the last one left me feeling conflicted and icky, and it abruptly ended without a resolution. Maybe that was the whole point? I’m not really sure. The stories were all about women and how the men in their lives treat them. I received this advanced ebook from @netgalley and the publisher @groveatlantic.

I am not usually a fan of short stories, but when they are from an author whose writing I enjoy, I can’t resist. I have read two novellas by Keegan that I really liked; when I saw this offering, I jumped at the chance to read it.

So Late in the Day is a book that consists of three provocative short stories. What they all have in common is that they touch on the tensions involved in male/female relationships.

There is misogyny, danger, sadness, and, in one story, triumph. Keegan’s vivid descriptions pull the reader right into the unfolding scenes. Especially evocative was the drive the main character in the second story embarked on as she traveled to a writing retreat, as well as the description of the property and its locale
Keegan proves once again that one doesn’t have to be wordy to be profound and affecting.

My emotions toward Cathal, the protagonist in this short story by Claire Keegan, were a mix of frustration and empathy. There were moments when I found myself irritated with his actions, yet other times, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness for him. Keegan skillfully guides us through what should have been a joyous day for Cathal, only to reveal its mundane reality. Through skillful use of flashbacks to his time with Sabine, the woman he was meant to marry, Keegan invites us to question whether those memories were truly happier. In this contemplative exploration, Claire Keegan's exquisite prose delves into the inner world of a man who might not be the ideal partner for most women but evokes a sense of pity and understanding.

Claire Keegan has mastered the art of saying a lot with few words. Every story has themes of the relationship between men and women, misogyny and patriarchy. All leave you with different emotions, but you're always touched.

Last year, I read and liked Small Things Like These and Foster. Since then, I've been a fan of Claire Keegan and her writing.

There are three short stories in this collection. Not all are new, some were previously published. This edition includes:

* So Late in the Day 5★
A quiet story about Cathal and his relationship with Sabine. My favorite from this collection.

* The Long and Painful Death 4.5★
A writer takes a retreat to write in Heinrich Böll's house. Soon, a stranger comes and wants to see the house.

* Antarctica 4★
A married woman travels to another town because she wonders what it would be like to sleep with another man.

I love how Keegan slowly builds tension in her stories. And she does the same in her short stories. I rarely enjoy every story included in a collection of short stories. Here, all three are very good and carry a powerful message. I enjoyed all of them, but So Late in the Day stood out for me.

4.5★ but rounded to 5★.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic for the advanced copy and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

claire keegan is an astounding writer, and she certainly outdid herself with the three short stories compiled in this volume. i had already read the first one — “so late in the day” — and loved it to bits, but the other two were just as magnificent. she is such a master at creating brief, yet incredibly engaging short stories, as well as characters whose understanding of the world is so deftly put into words that they seem to be real people one may encounter in the streets of dublin or cork or galway, instead of just fictional characters. excellent stuff.

Surprisingly, this is the first of Claire Keegan’s work I have read and I’m pleased to say it was everything I hoped it would be and I’m now going to read everything by this author.
‘So late in the day’ is a collection of 3 short stories each one a rich character study all so insightful and gripping. Dealing with themes of Misogyny, the dynamics between men and women, desire, violence and betrayal, Keegan succinctly nails each one. I can’t wait to read all her previous writing.

Look, all anyone has to say is “Claire Keegan” and they’ve got my attention! As my regular readers know, I adored her novella “Small Things Like These” and I immediately became a fan. That’s why I went out and bought her other novella, “Foster” to read right away.

You see, Keegan has a way of writing that is both breathtakingly simple, and yet highly evocative. It is almost like she can see into the souls of her characters. That she can then take that out and write them down is nothing less than genius. Keegan almost forces us to connect with her characters, even when they’re doing things that are less than pleasant. In this collection, we get examples of people who move from what seems normal towards different types of darkness.

This collection has three stories. The first being the titular one, started out very sad, and only got sadder as the story continued. However, as much as we feel for our protagonist, Cathal, we soon understand that he isn’t just some unlucky soul, but someone who did have a bit of a hand in the misfortunes that are befalling him.
In the second story, “The Long and Painful Road” I had to slightly laugh at how Keegan portrays a writer who has been awarded the honor of staying in the Island cottage of the prize-winning writer Heinrich Böll. You’d think that this would stir inspiration, and yet through much of this story Keegen shows us how much writers tend towards procrastination! Furthermore, we also see how writers can be impacted by criticism. Despite all that, even after the muse hits…

The final story, “Antarctica” is the darkest of the three, and the one I found the most disturbing. In this tale, I felt less connected to the protagonist, but wasn’t sure if she really deserved what was happening to her. Yes, she does go out to purposely look for casual sex with a man who isn’t her husband, but still…

The thing about all three of these stories is that in each of them, Keegen leaves us hanging a bit at their conclusions. This isn’t always a bad thing, and in fact, when it comes to shorter works, I mostly prefer to have the option to think about what I’ve read and wonder what happens next. With the first two, that left me feeling mostly hopeful for what Keegen doesn’t tell us. With the last one, I was practically scared, and not at all hopeful, which was disturbing for me. While I thought the story was compelling, I can’t really say that I enjoyed how it ended with such a cliff-hanger.

Obviously, none of this detracted from the beautiful writing here, and as expected, the writing was simply redolently beautiful, and deceptively unpretentious. That said, my thinking is that while these stories are each amazing, I think I prefer her slightly longer works. I can still very warmly recommend this collection, without hesitation! I think, therefore, I’ll give it four and a half stars out of five, and I look forward to reading more collections of her stories in the future (I bought her 2007 collection "Walk the Blue Fields" already).

Thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This is only the second book by Claire Keegan that I read, but it definitely won't be the last.

These three stories explore themes such as gender roles, love, lust and betrayal, and Keegan writes with such a beautiful and poignant language that you find yourself completely transported into the world of the characters.

Even though I do generally enjoy short fiction - Keegan is one writer where I would wish for more pages. These stories will stay with me for a long time.

"Down on the lawns, some people were out sunbathing and there were children, and beds plump with flowers; so much of life carrying smoothly on, despite the tangle of human upsets and the knowledge of how everything must end."

From the first time I read a story by Claire Keegan, I knew I wanted to read more by her. She writes quiet, impactful and thought provoking stories that pull me in from the beginning, hold me through the end because I simply have to know what happens to her characters. She writes stories that have stayed with me.

I read the first and title story in this short collection as a stand alone published previously in the New Yorker . A character study of a man named Cathal, who made me angry, yet made me feel sorry for him at the same time. He’s a man I wouldn’t want to be married to. The middle story “The Long and Painful Death” is my favorite of the three. An introspective portrayal of a young woman writer coming into her own. Interesting to see how the process of her writing plays out. “Antarctica” is the final story of a woman wanting to escape a bit from her mundane life as a wife and mother. An ending I wasn’t expecting!

Claire Keegan is a master at writing character studies and it is pretty amazing how we can come to intimately know her characters in such short fiction. Besides this collection, I’ve read a couple of other stories and her novella Foster, which is my favorite. All are beautifully written.

I received a copy of this from Grove Press through NetGalley and Edelweiss.

Anything written by Claire Keegan is to be celebrated, in my opinion, and these short stories do not disappoint. The prose is crisp and surprising, and yet it is the minutiae of everyday life that is her recurring theme. Although nothing much happens, the reader is drawn into the story, and it is hard to look away. Looking away is what I would like to have done in the first and last of these stories; such was the nature of the misogyny.

In 'So Late in the Day', the misogyny is presented from the male gaze and is all the more tragic for that; Antartica' from the female perspective is chilling as realisation dawns on the protagonist. The fact that these books are set in the present, unlike her previous work, makes them all the more horrific.

There is a tragic undercurrent to all the work I have read by Keegan - and she can write this so well. I'm left wondering how her prose would work in a more positive story.


Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC

So Late in the Day is a collection of three short stories. The first one is about an Irish man and his mundane life until he finds a woman who is willing to marry him. The second story is about a woman living in a house where a Nobel Prize of Literature used to live and write his work but she knows very little about him. The third, it's about a woman who fantasyzes about having an affair with a stranger and decides to act upon it. The twist at the end left me on edge.

My favorite story was the last one and I also enjoyed the second one. I really didn't care for the first one. I enjoyed the writing and the fact that I could read this book in one sitting.

Very worth the read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc.

Keegan is a master of saying so much with such few words. Her writing is sharp and yet quiet and understated. So late in the day is a small book that comprises of three short stories that all explore toxic masculinity and gender dynamics. While I don’t think I could say I ‘liked’ all of the stories, there’s no doubt that Keegan had me eating out of the palm of her hand. I was completely *there* with each of the female characters and it’s truly masterful how she has captured the misogyny that is both familiar and feared by women everywhere.

I received a copy of So Late in the Day from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first time that I’ve encountered Claire Keegan’s writings and these short stories. Each of these, although narrated by different people invite reflection on the role of women in their lives, the ability to question or break out of these roles, and the consequences both physical and social of doing so. The three stories follow different characters, each in distinct situations, one a mother and a wife, one, the fiancée of an office worker in the art field, and another, a writer looking to get some inspiration by visiting the home of Heinrich Boll. Each of these interact with the world differently, but there are common threads that unite the three stories. The stories are engaging and Keegan envelops the reader in the scenery of the story.

I was so eager to read SO LATE IN THE DAY: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan since I really enjoyed her other books Small Things Like These and Foster and I really enjoyed this book too! These three short stories explore relationships from marriage to infidelity to even violence. Keegan is definitely strong in short fiction and I’m thinking to read this book again. All three stories were excellent! If you enjoy short stories then definitely pick up this book!

Thank you to Grove Atlantic via NetGalley for my ARC!

Unfortunately, I didn't realize this new collection by Keegan is comprised of three stories I've read previously, but I happily read them again anyway. A loose theme among them might be each narrator's relationship to others, but I could be stretching here. In So Late in the Day, Cathal is dealing with love and an aborted wedding. In The Long and Painful Death, the narrator is beginning her two weeks as writer in residence at the house of a Nobel Prize winner. In Antarctica, a happily married woman, desirous of cheating on her husband before she is too old, ends up in disastrous circumstances. As always, reading Keegan is a pleasure.

I had previously read Claire Keegan’s novella Small Things Like These, so I knew I loved her writing. Even though I had high expectations, her three short stories in So Late in the Day were better than I expected.


I’ve only read one story by Chekhov but I can feel a strong affinity between these two writers. Taking the small moments of life and painting such a complex portrait of the human condition on so few pages.


There is an underlying feeling of unease and danger on Keegan’s pages. Death is inevitable; we are reminded of that by Keegan’s choice of prefacing the collection with part of the poem Aubade by Philip Larkin.


Misogyny, Irish culture, women and men, ownership and freedom, thought-provoking, uncomfortable, horrifying at times, and even though the pace is slow, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

Do I dare say that Keegan is one of the greatest writers of the English language today? Yes, I do.

Thank you Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review. Will publish review on social media on publication date.

Three quite short stories with some connective tissue around gender dynamics and male misbehaviour. I liked the title story the most of the bunch, but recommend all three for fans or those studying the structure of the short story.

I really enjoyed Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These , so when I saw this collection of stories on NetGalley I had to give it a shot. And … meh. These stories weren't bad, but certainly none of them had the magic of the aforementioned novella.

I mean, don't get me wrong – Keegan is obviously a talented writer and her prose is lovely. And these stories really were fine, but I'll probably have forgotten all three within the month.

With that said, I think my favorite of the three was the title story, “So Late in the Day.” The flashback scenes with Cathal and Sabine were the best bits, and Cathal's cluelessness in these scenes was almost comical (in an exasperating sort of way).

“The Long and Painful Death” just made me want to take a solo vacation. A private retreat to a ocean view cottage sounds fantastic about right now. Otherwise, I guess I really didn't get it?

The final story, “Antarctica,” was probably my least favorite of the three. It was, however, the tale with the most unexpected subject matter and I absolutely did not see that ending coming.

Overall, this collection was decent but unmemorable. If you're a diehard fan of the author, though, you'll probably really enjoy these stories – the first two, at least, are very Keegan-ish.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.