A novella that packs an emotional punch, weighing up religion vs conscience in a small Irish community. 

Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is the shortest book to be longlisted for the Booker Prize awards. 
 

Bill Furlong owners a timber and coal business in a small town in 1980s Ireland. Bill’s life is traditional and uncomplicated. He lives with his wife and five children in a community that lives in the shadow, literally, of the local convent. While making his delivery rounds in the lead up to Christmas, Bill encounters those that live in the Convent, and finds himself stuck between what he believes is right and what other’s believe he should do. 

With his own upbringing and background mapping out his conscience, and the power of the convent looming over him, Bill is left on his own to decide what the right thing to do is. 
 

Despite being a short read, the weight of Bill’s conscience is so implicitly laid on to the reader. The book is atmospheric, and the writing is beautiful, despite the topic being anything other than. The Magdalene Laundry’s cast a dark shadow over the church and Irish history. Keegan does well to bring together the thoughts of the community, the power the church holds over them, and the conflict between religion, and morals. 

With the book being short, you don’t get much detail about the lives of the women in the convent, only what Bill see’s. There is a lot of background on Bill’s life and his family, and then you are left with a slight cliff-hanger. I felt the balance between background and plot was possibly a bit off balance. 

 

It’s easy to see why this book has been included in literary award nominations, and I would certainly recommend it.