Sometimes, the shortest books are the most difficult to read emotionally. That’s probably one reason Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These won the 2022 Orwell Prize for fiction earlier in the week. I picked up the book when I read an article in Books & Publishing. “Irish author Keegan won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for her novel Small Things Like These (Faber), described by the judges as an ‘unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness’. Set in a small Irish town in 1985, the book centres on coal and timber merchant Bill Furlong, who encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Catholic Church as he does his rounds during the lead-up to Christmas.” If you’re not familiar with Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, you might want to look them up.
Bill Furlong might have been bullied in school in New Ross, but his mother was actually one of the lucky ones. When she became pregnant at sixteen, her Catholic family cut her off. But, her employer, Mrs. Wilson, a Protestant widow, continued to employ her, and even sent her to the hospital where Bill was born on April 1, 1946. And, she gave them a place to live and encouraged Bill in his schooling.
By Christimas 1985, Bill is happily married to Eileen, and has five daughters. He’s a successful coal and timber merchant, but he feels for the people in town who are going through a rough time and need a little time to pay their bills in the cold winters. Bill’s girls are doing well, and the oldest ones go to St. Margaret’s, “the only good school for girls in town”.
But, Bill doesn’t have the same view of life as Eileen does. He’s fanciful at times, and wonders why they work so hard. What if they quit working constantly, and took time to think, or just to relax? In Furlong’s household, no one ever seems to relax, even during Christmas week. At times, he wonders about the past, grows a little sentimental for the time at Mrs. Wilson’s.
One day, when he delivers coal to the convent, no one answers and he ends up where he shouldn’t be. That’s when he sees young women scrubbing floors, and one even asks him to take her out, and let her go to the river and drown herself. And, later, when he finds another young woman in the coal shed, he realizes he has a decision to make. Can he live with himself if he, like the rest of the town, continues to ignore what’s going on behind the walls of the convent?
I can see why Claire Keegan won the Orwell Prize, and other prizes for earlier works. She’s able to tell a story with vivid descriptions in few words, but they’re the right words. Keegan addresses the history of atrocities in Ireland. The last Magdalene laundries only closed in 1996. But, every country has its own reasons for shame, including the United States. This novel may be about Ireland’s recent past, but it speaks to our current history as well. Small Things Like These is about one man who has a decision to make. We all have decisions to make right now.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Grove Press, 2021. ISBN 9780802158741 (hardcover), 128p.
FTC Full Disclosure – Library Book
Lesa, I heard this read on BBC Sounds late last year and was blown away by it. Keegan tells the story in such a subtle way, and there are so many layers to what is, as you say, a short but immensely powerful book.
I never felt overloaded with description, but at the same time I could see that small town, the closed doors of the convent, the coal lorry rumbling through the streets.
I spent several Christmases in the far south of Ireland in the early 1980s and I know just how much power the Catholic Church held over those small, traditional – and at that time, patriarchal – communities.
You’ve probably seen Peter Mullan’s 2003 film ‘The Magdalene Sisters’ – it’s a hard watch but, I think, an essential one.
Thanks for this review.
Oh, I can just imagine hearing it, Rosemary. It is such a powerful book. There’s so much meat in that short book. I can’t say about the hold of the Church now in Ireland. My sister and I found it really funny when we went to Church one Saturday night when we were there. The children who were going to make their First Communion soon were in attendance with their families. It was funny to see because you could tell the parents probably only came to Church for big occasions – weddings, baptisms, First Communion, and didn’t know how to respond during Mass. I don’t know the Church has much power now. But, it certainly did at one time. And, I can’t believe the Magdalene Homes didn’t close until 1996.
You’re welcome. Thank you for your excellent comments, Rosemary.
I placed a hold at the library & look forward to reading.
Also noticed another on order, Foster:
“An international bestseller and one of The Times’ “Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century,” Claire Keegan’s piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US”
Now, I’m going to have to look for Foster, MM. Thank you.
It was way for women in Italy, there they sent them to a convent to be abused to death according to that book that I read which I can no longer remember the name of! It is a tragedy.
As I said, Carolee, every country has its reasons to be ashamed. The U.S. has many of them.