Rating: 5
Literary Fiction
This was the perfect little book to read around Christmas time. It is a 128-page quiet story that really packs a punch. Claire Keegan is an Irish author. This book made the Booker Prize shortlist for 2022.
Small Things Like These is set in 1985 (surprisingly) in a small Irish town leading up to Christmas. It is told from the perspective of a middle-aged coal and timber merchant, Bill Furlong, who is going about his business when he makes a discovery about the home for unwed mothers run by the Catholic church convent.
While making a delivery, he is horrified to discover girls the same age as his own daughters being treated like slaves. These things are known by the clergy, but a blind eye is turned.
Bill cannot unsee what he saw. He cannot stop thinking about one girl in particular. All these things make him think about his own childhood being raised by an unwed mother himself. If it hadn't been for the wealthy woman in town who took her and Bill in, his mother could have been one of these girls.
You can read this book in about an hour. It is so worth it. It makes you think about noticing and doing something about what you notice. Highly recommend.
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