THE PLOT: ‘Small Things Like These’ by Claire Keegan is a literary novella set in an Irish town in 1985. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong is a coal and timber merchant facing his busiest season. As he goes round the houses making his deliveries, he has an unusual encounter with some nuns. The chance meeting leads Bill to interrogate his past and confront the complicit silences of a small community controlled by the Church.

SUMMARY: This sweet, quiet novella is perfectly formed for the Christmas season. Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, it addresses the treatment of women in the Magdalene Laundries and the oppressive power of the Catholic Church in 1980’s Ireland. Only 116-pages, it’s a short and deceptively simple book. However, it packs a punch thematically as Bill’s personal journey mirrors the overarching moral dilemma of the novel – by looking into his past, he starts to question the larger societal issues that the rest of the community turns a blind eye to. Beautifully written with language that evokes the slide of Autumn into Winter perfectly and instantly makes you feel like the characters are real, it’s a devastatingly poignant read that reminds you of the true meaning of Christmas and charity. I’m giving it four stars and believe it will resonate with most readers, making it a great Christmas present.

GOOD BITS: Some critics dislike that the book is written from the viewpoint of a man because the Magdalene laundries were an intimately female trauma. Yet I don’t see it as a book about a male character with a saviour complex – that argument feels incredibly reductive and strikes me as ‘faux outrage’ or virtue signalling, judging this book on what it’s not rather than what it is. Personally, I think one of the best elements of the book are the subtle power-dynamics. A male main character adds to the layers of complexity regarding the power structures at play throughout the book. I particularly liked the subtle implications and dynamics with Bill’s wife and daughters.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  Other critics of this novel say it’s overly sentimental and a bit smug. While I do believe it’s supposed to be idealistic and the aim is to encourage people to challenge the status quo, I resonate with this argument a lot more. I personally don’t mind idealism in fiction – Lord knows we need some right now. Plus, the book nods to ‘A Christmas Carol’ and I think the author is trying to write in the same vein. Yet in its neatness as a nice story, it doesn’t confront the depths of the issues it raises (though I’m conflicted because I don’t think it has to or is particularly trying to).

OVERALL:  I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Queen of Dirt Island’ by Donal Ryan, ‘Sisters’ by Daisy Johnson, and ‘Soldier Sailor’ by Claire Kilroy. This is definitely for fans of quiet, reflective books with big themes.

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