<i>So late in the day - </i>

It is not so much as an incident that incites a break up, its plethora of little things - sum of it all that fundamentally fractures a seemingly "normal" relationship. Was that misogyny that broke them apart or was it the little things that they brushed it past during course of relationship that came to head when they did finally start living together; a comment there, a revelation here, they all diffuse sooner or later.

<i>The long and painful death - </i>

An encounter catalyzes the writing limbo in a 39 year old writer who has taken up home at a well known residency of a Nobel laureate. A German man visits her that changes the course of her work, influenced by Chekhov's heroine, transforming the story to give the husband character - long and a painful death. Mundane happenstances hide the idiosyncrasies that surface when embers are prodded; the depth of the heat only known to the subject of the story.

<i>Antarctica - </i>

A woman plans for a weekend adventure and it goes completely sideways. There are tell-tale red flags here and there, nothing glaringly obvious but its there. Keegan writes that awareness spectacularly, and in just few sentences the potential course of story is known.

This was a fantastic collection of short stories, surrounding the themes of alienation, disenchantment in relationships and underlying loneliness that courses through them all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

A small, but impactful collection of 3 short stories about men not giving women space.

I was immediately reminded of A Room of One’s Own and, as a bookclub friend pointed out ( 👋 @gracelizabeth52), A Good Man is Hard to Find. To be clear though, Claire Keegan holds her own amongst these capital L literary women, putting her unique observational, deeply Irish lens on the gender dynamics within a country that only just legalized divorce in 1996.

How so much depth and emotion can be within such a quiet, sparse novel alludes me, but it means that I will continue to read, and truly let seep into my soul, anything Keegan writes.

This book definitely conveys the swiftness that men can mask their flaws and how with a minor push this can affect everyone around him.

Love anything that Claire Keegan writes. Insightful, incisive, intoxicating. An automatic read of an author for me!

Everything Claire Keegan writes is brilliant! So poignant. So much conveyed in just a few pages! A master of her craft!

“So Late In The Day” is a compilation of short stories by Claire Keegan. It starts of with Cathal who reminisce on love lost or is it even love. The story is simple but the writing is lyrical and I love how subtle it was. The subject matter in all these stories: Irish misogyny. It was evident on how he tries to paint himself as the victim. Her work is truly reflective and she maybe one of the best Irish writers.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the ARC Copy.

What more can I say than just read it?
Oh and that Ms Keegan is pure genius!

The prose is exceptional, the stories are familiar, difficult, complex and brilliant.

In this fifty page novella, Keegan scrutinises the relationship dynamics of men and women - both effusing a form of self revolt and skirting misogyny. I felt sad, annoyed even angry - yet, I also felt a pull of romantic hope.

As with all of her books, I was left wondering and thinking about the characters and of life. In all honesty I will read anything CK writes!

“You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?”

“So I’m a misogynist now?”

“It’s simply about not giving,” she said. “Whether it’s not giving us the vote or not giving help with the dishes—it’s all clitched to the same wagon.”

While I loved Keegan’s other books these three short stories just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t care about the characters and failed to find meaning in their life decisions. While this was well written I won’t remember it in the future and find it hard to recommend. It seemed to lack the heart of Foster and Small Things Like These.

I really enjoyed reading this short book by Claire keegan. I read this in one sitting and despite it being a short book I was totally captivated by the story.

Small things like these, was my introduction to Claire Keegan and I loved her writing and how the story took form in that novella.

This collection of three short stories is much the same. Revolving around the interactions and relationships between men and women and how they perceive each other, the emotions of love, lust, betrayal and trust are explored in each of them as is the unfortunately ever present misogyny that raises its ugly head and causes great trouble.

In 'So Late in the Day', Cathal, the protagonist, thinks back on a relationship that should have ended in marriage but didn't because of certain aspects of his behaviour. The flashbacks to what those aspects were and the perspective of the woman in particular are so relatable.

In 'A long and painful death', a writer is just settling into a two week writing residency at a famous author's house when she has an unexpected visitor. Put off by the intrusion but trying to be pleasant, she accommodates his visit, only to figure out his ulterior motive. The male in this story accurately represents the entitlement some men seem to feel they have and the way they place blame on all women!

In the final story, Antarctica, a married woman gets much more than she bargained for when she embarks on what she believes will be a one night stand. Pursuing freedom from routine could have unpleasant side effects for women in particular when their trust is taken advantage of, is the takeaway here.

Each tale seemed so simple and yet conveyed a truth about the lives we lead and what we aspire to. I would love to read more of the author's work.

Thanks to Netgalley for the DRC. This review contains my honest thoughts about the book.

I am a fan of Claire Keegan's books, but not usually of short stories. I will read more of her books in the future.

2.5/5 ☆

I am conflicted about this read. To begin with the positives, I enjoyed the fact that this short story collection was aimed at ordinary lives, with the descriptions vivid, but also had a day-to-day normalcy (with the exception of the ending of the second and third story) to it that I wish I saw in more books. I also love that the story managed to bring out heavy themes through subtlety, or by abrupt, cliffhanger-like ending that forces you to think about the message of the stories clearly.

Now onto what I didn’t like, or didn’t understand: This is an ‘interaction’ between men and women, but at most just a generalisation of both. All men are either shown as misogynistic or dangerous. And all women are portrayed as gullible, until they come to a realisation at the end. Women do not trust men so easily as the characters in the book and I find their portrayal almost validating the misogyny shown in the book.

So overall, I do think that the writing is excellent and that the descriptions was good, however upon deeper reflection I think that it was too stereotypical.

I think that Claire Keegan is one to watch in the short story spaces. Her books and stories pack so much punch in so little time.

The title story I found so interesting. You see the main characters day unfold and his reflection on his relationship being given to the reader in a way that you can’t decide if you should feel sorry for him or not. I could have read many more pages of this story and would have continued to enjoy myself.

The second story was a bit of a bore for me and the reason the collection was rated not as highly. I really have no comments on it other than that I was not intrigued by it at all.

The third story in this collection I know many people dislike, but I loved it. I felt like it was shocking and somehow Keegan makes me feel calm when not calm at all situations are happening.

Also love that Cillian like Claire Keegan’s work, we stan Irish actors and Irish writers in this house.

Claire Keegan has the preternatural ability to succinctly cut through facades and expose the sinew beneath appearance--relationships, trust, loneliness, lust, misogyny, motivation. In each of these stories, she explores vast themes in the simple landscapes of the everyday through searing, original observations that linger and build with time. Upon the completion of reading her stories, one is left questioning how to fill the emptiness of the end and does so by considering the delicate and thought-provoking nature of her prose.

Three pitch-perfect short stories: 'So Late In The Day', 'The Long and Painful Death' and 'Antarctica', with the common underlying theme of relations between women and men. The writing is just superb. I don't know how Keegan manages, but she draws me in in just two pages.

Claire Keegan can do no wrong. Her writing is perfect for short periods of time where you can sit and reflect. True taken to evoke feeling in such short stories.

I'm a big fan of Keegan and I would recommend this book other fans of her work. She has an economy of style and words that make her prose read more like poetry, so it is no surprise that this triptych works the same way.

Will still read anything Keegan publishes, but none of this triptych manages to pack the same sense of psychological and emotional expansiveness into their brief page counts as Small Things Like These and, especially, Foster. The title story even feels a little — hate to say it — cheap in its foundational of pat generalities. There are still plenty of true Keegan moments of keen insight and gentle devastation in these pages, but there's a reason beyond brevity, methinks, that these stories are being packaged together rather than allowing them to stand on their own.

Claire Keegan is a master of her art and I really enjoyed this thank you - I love the brevity of her writing and also the description/ atmospehere

The final story in this collection is so misogynistic that it reminded me of other regressive works such as Looking for Mr. Goodbar and the movie Dressed to kill. All of the women in the three stories are harrods but the nastiness of the final story really turned me off. Why a woman today would sex shame another woman is beyond my understanding.