Small Things Like These

By: Claire Keegan

“If you want to get on in life, there’s things you have to ignore, so you can keep on.”

In a small Irish town in 1985, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, is having his busiest season. When he delivering an order to a convent, he happens upon an unwed mother who has been receiving harsh treatment. His heart goes out to her because of his own past with his mother. With his own 5 daughters on his mind, Bill can’t get this girl out of his mind.

So here’s the thing, these books.. these aren’t for me. At 70 pages, I found maybe 5 pages of the whole thing relevant to the plot line. The rest of it was really just filler and provided nothing to push the story forward.

I also really despise books that have too much prose and not even dialogue and this was one of those books. I mean, the amount of dialogue in this book was so little that It could probably have fit on just a few of the 70 pages!

Seeing the other reviews, it’s clear I am an outlier. So don’t mind me over here in outlier land. I read this for my book club, but now I’ll be glad to return it to the library.

Publish Date: November 30, 2021
Find the book here.
*This post contains an affiliate link. I earn a small commission if you purchase the book through this link.