Linda's Reviews > Small Things Like These

I loved this book. I just saw the film adaptation and highly recommend it.

Spoiler Alert

"He found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another."

Orders of Roman Catholic Nuns in Ireland ran the Magdelene Laundries from the 18th century until 1996 to house "fallen women," prostitutes, unwed mothers. The Nuns forced these women to engage in unpaid manual labor, washing, ironing, and packing laundry as "penance for their sins." From 1922-1996, 10,000 girls passed through the laundries where abuse was commonplace(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/wo...).

In Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan provides the reader with entre into this world. Her writing, like the story itself, is subtle and low keyed. It centers on Bill Furlong, a local coal and timber merchant in New Ross, a small town in County Wexford.
Furlong is married and has five daughters. His mother, an unmarried domestic worker, avoided the laundry when her employer took in mother and son when at 16, she gave birth to him.

The novella occurs at Christmas time, a busy delivery season for Furlong. When he delivers to the local convent, he finds a young girl, dirty and cold, locked in the shed. She has recently given birth, is lactating, and asks Furlong desperately about her baby. He brings her to the Mother Superior, who feigns ignorance and provides him with a hefty tip. After that, he leaves and must decide what to do.

Keegan juxtaposes scenes of an idyllic Irish village at Christmas time with the harsh realities of the residents of the laundries, a reality that most village residents are aware of but don't want to confront. It is against this backdrop that Furlong deals with his moral dilemma.

I highly recommend this short work. I want to thank GR friends Candi and JimZ for bringing this book to my attention!