Lauren Ducommun

Book Review:
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Grove Press, 2021

Claire Keegan has written an exquisite novella, that I look forward to picking up again during another Christmas season.

Small Things Like These is based on events in Ireland in the 1980s, and follows the life of Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father to many daughters.

The character of Furlong is impactful—an ordinary man wrestling with the monotony of life and what it all was for. “Might things never change or develop into something else, or new?” he wondered. But through the story we see how it is indeed the small things and deeds in our everyday life that matter most.

“…[H]e found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carryon along through all the years, all the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?”

If you like A Christmas Carol, and Little Women, then you would probably enjoy this beautiful and moving short story. Grateful to Karen Swallow Prior for another great read!