Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clare Keegan is a magician.

"Small Things Like These" is a historical fiction glimpsing at the moral corrosion of small Irish rural towns during the recession in the 1980s, the mentalities of the time, and the haunting image of the Magdalene Laundries, a powerful institution "sheltering" young unmarried woman, rejects of a hypocritical society dominated by the Catholic Church. Keegan managed with simple words to portray the cruelty that went on for decades, stripping women of their identity, their self-esteem, and even their names, their babies torn out of their arms. 

I love the way Keegan can describe the Irish ways and mannerisms (and in this case the ways of a small rural town) with simple colloquialism and imagery: "Gossipers stayed down on the edge of the aisle to get a good gawk, watching for a new jacket or haircut, a limp, anything out of the ordinary"(p.76). Compared to some of her earlier work, this story is more tender and more hopeful with Bill portrayed as quite a sentimental father with a good heart. For example, as he watches his daughters play, he feels “a deep, private joy that these children were his own”. I like the progression of Furlong's character. How he says little but observes a lot, how he keeps his thoughts locked to the point of suffocation. Keegan uses great analogies to describe it and his outdoor trips reflect his mind unravelling. As the book progresses, the reccurrence of his outings accelerates, with the character choosing the cold lonely night outside to the warmth of his family and house. I could sense his inner conflict, his eager heart, and his refrained kindness. Keegan is a painter who needs very few colors and strokes to create vivid scenes. She harnesses the rhythm of words efficiently, creating sentences with a heart all through the book. 

I did think Furlong was going through a mid-life crisis or some sort of breakdown at the start, soon to understand that his past was catching up with him (he still didn't know the identity of his father and was bullied at school for so many years). Throwing himself into work to provide for his family kept his feelings at bay for so long. But the discovery of young Sarah in the shed stirred something up inside him. He finds it hard after this pivotal scene to reconcile the picture with the one of his own mother who got luckier. The fact that his mother is also called Sarah is not a detail. It is a thread. His mother Sarah was able to find refuge and salvation with Mrs Wilson whom Keegan ironically portrayed as a Protestant widow. The hypocrisy and cruelty of Catholicism versus the empathy and tolerance of a Protestant outcast. The drunken ways of Irish Catholics versus "the good protestant habits, [...] rising early and [...] no taste for drink"(p.7)

Furlong has a lot to lose by walking on the wild side and doing what he feels is right. The story doesn't tell us what happens after he rescues the girl but one can only imagine how hard it will be. As times started to change in the 1980s in Ireland and the Catholic Church was slowly losing its grip, I would like to think that Furlong won't lose his business but his family probably feel the pinch socially. I also would like to believe that the questioning of long-held beliefs and authority by a handful of individuals will start to disrupt the established order very soon after Bill brings the girl home. If one person questions, others should follow. One becomes two, then three, and then the world changes. And sure enough, the Magdalene laundry closed down in 1996 in New Ross, 10 years after this story took place. 

I also want to draw attention to the imagery of the crows (In 'Foster', it is a cow). Crows represent transformation because of their wisdom and foresight. They are a symbol of Bill's personal growth in my view. They can also be an omen of what Bill was to discover or of how the Furlong's lives were to change. Maybe both.

The story feels slightly "dickens-esque" as Bill, just like Scrouge at Christmas time, has a change of heart when confronted with his past, his present situation, and what his future will be or could have been. "[Furlong] .. found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, 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?".

So 5 stars for Claire Keegan's novella. She is without a doubt, my favourite Irish writer.