![]() His tale of quiet heroism doesn’t require any more words. The encounter affects Furlong deeply and the latter half of the novel finds him reflecting on his own upbringing. Review: Small Things Like These is a gem of a slim novel Review: ‘Small Things Like These’ is a gem of a slim novel The book takes just an hour or so to read, but you still feel like you know Bill Furlong by the end and understand why he does what he does. ![]() The terrible conditions they are forced to live under are at last confirmed when Furlong discovers a girl locked away in the convent’s coal house, distressed, barely able to walk, and asking to see her baby. There are all kinds of rumors about those in attendance – “girls of low character” or “common, unmarried girls”, who have been hidden away after giving birth. Attached to it, is a training school and laundry where young women live and work. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church," reads the book's blurb. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. ![]() 114 pages long, the novel tells the story of Bill Furlong, a coal merchant with a wife and five daughters. ![]() Keegan dedicates it to "the women and children who suffered time in Ireland's Magdalen laundries" – horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions for most of the 20th century in order to reform "fallen young women". ![]() Irish writer Claire Keegan's most recent short novel, 'Small Things Like These', is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism, and tenderness. ![]()
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