Description

From the award-winning author of Foster and Antarctica comes a globally acclaimed, razor-sharp novel that has already cemented its place as a modern Irish literary classic. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a brief but monumental story that packs an extraordinary emotional punch, exploring themes of morality, family loyalty, and the devastating cost of collective silence.

The narrative follows Bill Furlong, a kind-hearted coal and timber merchant, during the busy weeks leading up to Christmas in 1985. As he goes about his deliveries in a freezing-cold Wexford town, Furlong feels the weight of his own past while trying to provide for his wife and five daughters. However, while making a routine delivery to the local convent, he discovers a disturbing secret kept by the good sisters—a discovery that forces him to confront both the chilling control of the Catholic Church and the complicit silence of his own community.

Keegan’s prose is exceptionally precise, tense, and luminous. By focusing on the quiet choices of an ordinary man, she sheds a brilliant light on the dark history of Ireland’s institutional abuse. Small Things Like These is a hypnotic, profoundly compassionate read that will linger in the minds of your customers long after the final page is turned.