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Small Things like These

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Small Things like These
AuthorClaire Keegan
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction
Set in1980s Ireland
PublisherGrove Press
Publication date
30 November 2021
Media typePrint
Pages128
AwardsOrwell Prize
ISBN9780802158741 Hardcover edition
OCLC1271995923

Small Things like These is a historical fiction novel by Claire Keegan, published on 30 November 2021 by Grove Press. In 2022, the book won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction,[1] and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize[2] and the Booker Prize.[3] It was adapted into a film of the same name starring Cillian Murphy, premiered in 15 February 2024, and scheduled for wider release, first in Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1 November 2024, and the United States by 8 November 2024.[4]

Synopsis

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Bill Furlong is a coal merchant in 1985 New Ross, Ireland. When he was born, his mother was an unmarried teenager, ostracised by her family but permitted to continue working respectably as a maid by her kind-hearted employer. Now a financially independent adult, Bill prepares for the approaching Christmas with his wife and five daughters.

While delivering coal to the local convent, he begins to suspect that their supposed training school for girls is, in fact, a cruelly abusive Magdalen laundry. First, he finds a group of deprived-looking young women polishing the floors, one of whom asks for his help getting out to a river to drown herself. On his next delivery, he finds a girl named Sarah locked in an outbuilding, who has been out in the cold all night. When he lets her out, she asks him to find out about her baby, but the Mother Superior interrupts them. She tells Bill that Sarah has a mental illness and has ended up outside by mistake, and distracts Bill with tea and his Christmas tip.

Bill attempts to ignore the convent, as his wife suggests. On a social call to a farmhand, Ned, whom he'd known as a child, he realises that Ned is his unknown father. On another visit, the local pub owner warns him not to publicly criticise the convent since the church is involved in all parts of town life.

He returns to the convent, where he finds Sarah again locked in the cold. He gives her his coat and walks with her back to his own house, attracting attention from the locals they pass. He reaches his front door, afraid but optimistic that doing the right thing will work out.

Reception

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Small Things like These was generally well-received by critics[5] and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews[6] and Library Journal.[7] According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on twenty-one critic reviews with nineteen being "rave" and two being "positive".[8] On Bookmarks March/April 2022 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 4 out of 5 stars based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Get two copies," advised the Washington Post: "one to keep, one to give".[9][10]

Multiple reviewers commented on the moral storytelling, which comes across as "a sort of anti-Christmas Carol."[11] Kirkus called the book "[a] stunning feat of storytelling and moral clarity."[6] The Herald said the book "assures us we are all capable of doing the right thing, and that goodness, like misery, can be handed on from man to man."[12]

This depth of the book surprised some reviewers, given that Small Things like These is a quick read that could be considered a novella given its length. Associated Press noted, "Keegan's economy of prose is a marvel ... The book takes just an hour or so to read, but you still feel like you know Bill Furlong by the end and understand why he does what he does. His tale of quiet heroism doesn't require any more words."[13] A similar sentiment was echoed in the Los Angeles Times, who wrote, "Keegan, whose short stories contain unusual depth and grandeur, is the only contemporary writer who could manage the feat of a completely imagined, structured and sustained world with such brevity."[14]

Reviewers also highlighted Keegan's writing style. Keegan's prose was referred to as "surprisingly powerful," "languid and crystalline"[15] in Booklist, as well as "quiet and precise, jewel-like in its clarity"[7] in Library Journal. Further, the Financial Times noted, "Keegan has a keen ear for dialect without letting it overwhelm conversations,"[16] and Damon Galgut wrote in The Times Literary Supplement: "Keegan knows how to weigh and pace her sentences, and her fine judgement delivers many subtle pleasures ... [she] fully exploits the power of understatement."[17]

Lamorna Ash, writing in The Guardian, noted that Small Things like These does "not feel quite as devastating, as lasting, as Keegan’s previous work[.] Perhaps, for the first time in her writing, the lightness here has become too light – is kept too far away from the darkness that lurks at the other side of the town."[18]

Awards and honors for Small Things like These
Year Award Result Ref.
2022 Booker Prize Shortlisted [19]
Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Won [1]
Rathbones Folio Prize Shortlisted [2]

Adaptation

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Main article: Small Things Like These (film)

The Irish Independent reported in February 2023 that shooting locations for the book's film adaptation were being sought.[20] Actor Cillian Murphy stars in the film, with the screenplay written by Murphy's long-time collaborator Enda Walsh.[21] In January 2024, it was confirmed that Small Things Like These would be opening the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival on 15 February.[22] It will be released in the UK and Ireland on 1 November 2024, and in the United States on 8 November.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Awards: Orwell Book Winners, Mo Siewcharran Longlist". Shelf Awareness. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b "The Rathbones Folio Prize 2022". The Rathbones Folio Prize. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Irish author Claire Keegan nominated for prestigious Booker Prize". TheJournal.ie. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b Tartaglione, Nancy (17 September 2024). "'Small Things Like These': Lionsgate Sets Release Dates For Cillian Murphy-Starrer, Drops Official Trailer". Deadline. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Book Marks reviews of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan". Book Marks. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Small Things Like These". Kirkus Reviews. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Matthews, John G. (1 October 2021). "Small Things Like These". Library Journal. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Small Things Like These". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Small Things Like These". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Small Things like These". Bibliosurf (in French). 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Small Things Like These". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  12. ^ Garavelli, Dani (25 October 2021). "'Takes the scandal of the Magdalene laundries and tells it so quietly you scarcely want to breathe': book review". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  13. ^ Merrill, Rob (29 November 2021). "Review: 'Small Things Like These' is a gem of a slim novel". AP NEWS. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  14. ^ Patrick, Bethanne (29 November 2021). "Review: Can one good person redeem a nation's shame? A novel explores Ireland's Laundries". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  15. ^ Kelly, Bill (1 October 2021). "Small Things Like These". Booklist. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  16. ^ House, Christian (12 November 2021). "Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan — kindness endures". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  17. ^ Galgut, Damon. "The nuns didn't tell | Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan book review". TLS. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  18. ^ Ash, Lamorna (22 October 2021). "Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan – between happiness and ruin". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  19. ^ Bari, Shahidha (6 September 2022). "'I've no idea how we'll pick a winner': the challenge of a spectacular Booker shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  20. ^ Looby, David (8 February 2023). "Cillian Murphy lined up to star in New Ross based film". Irish Independent. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  21. ^ "Small Things Like These". IMDb. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  22. ^ Goldbart, Max (18 January 2024). "Cillian Murphy-Starrer 'Small Things Like These' To Open Berlinale 2024". Deadline. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
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