claire keegan small things like these review

While the Magdalen laundries were particularly severe in Ireland similar establishments existed all over the world – for example, Melbourne, Australia had three such establishments.

There have been cases as recent as today that suggest many of the children born in these laundries died en mass. Once the child was born, the child was often forcefully removed from the mother and adopted out. They were run by the Catholic church and families would drop off their female family members there so they could hide their pregnancies from society. Keegan’s historical fiction tackles the issue Magdalen laundries in Ireland, which were essentially workhouses for women (especially young and teen woman) who had fallen pregnant out of wedlock. Yet, as Keegan so eloquently unfolds the story, we learn that things are not quite what they seem for Bill. On the surface of it all, Bill should be content with his life and lot. He works as a coal and timber delivery man for his small town and is the father of five children and husband to his wife, Eileen. Small Things Like These is a powerful historical fiction centred on the character of Bill Furlong. You can read my review of Williams’ book here. I’ve written about my love of Irish authors a lot on this blog and one of my favourites is Niall Williams‘ This is Happiness. Her writing, like all Irish writing seems to have to beauty and softness about it that I can’t quite explain, but truly love to read. Keegan is an Irish author who grew up in Ireland but she has also lived in the United States, Wales, and is now back in Ireland. With all that said, I was really glad that my book club had chosen a short book – and I was really glad it was Keegan’s latest work. Christmas is a complicated time for me with a lot of losses, so I know that the time of year is not helping. My reading has been a bit all over the place – something I will talk more on towards the end of the year – and I’ve had trouble staying focused. In fact, you could easily make yourself a nice pot of tea and finish this novella in a quiet afternoon. Claire Keegan’s book is rather short and I would consider it to be a novella (short novel) which also makes it perfect for a light Christmas/Holiday read. I managed to find it squirreled away in a local bookstore and I made sure I got it there and then. Small Things Like These was selected for my summer book club, and I was desperate to get my hands on it. It was sold out in most book stores and my library had a hold list that looked like it was never going to end.

Claire keegan small things like these review