Review: "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Published November 2021
★★★

It's the mid-80s, and in parts of the world the economy is booming, but you wouldn't know it to look at parts of small-town Ireland. Bill Furlong is fortunate—his position as a coal merchant makes his finances more stable than many, and he does his best to pass on that good fortune in the form of solid education for his daughters, lenient payment policies, and gifts of wood for those who need it. And he's more fortunate still: his mother was unmarried, and were it not for the grace of her employer at the time, Furlong would likely have been born in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers and raised with the understanding that he was naught but a bastard.

Keegan writes a tightly crafted novella. There's a lot at play here: Furlong's past, who his father is or might be, his family now, the economy, his limited but growing understanding of what it means for a woman to end up in a "Magdalene Laundry." Because his mother was spared the laundries, Furlong has never had much reason to spare them a thought, but the opinion in town is clear: We don't think about those things. Those girls brought it upon themselves.

I haven't read much about the Magdalene Laundries—enough to know that the abuse Keegan describes here is true—but this makes me want to read more. I haven't quite gotten on the Keegan train, though: as much as I can appreciate the tight plot and the understated nature of the characters, I've found both this and Foster to edge toward something a bit saccharine. Small Things Like These, in particular, reminds me a little bit of The Story of Holly and Ivy, which I adored as a child but don't necessarily want a grown-up version of.

Still...I can see the appeal, and I look forward to Keegan eventually coming out with a full-length novel.