"Furlong pulled up and bade the man good evening.
"'Would you mind telling me where this road will take me?'
"'This road?' The man put down the hook, leant on the handle, and stared in at him. 'This road will take you wherever you want to go, son.'"
Inspired by the infamous Magdalen laundries, "Small Things Like These" is an exquisitely rendered depiction of rural Ireland and how the specter of cruel religious institutions runs through every aspect of life. Claire Keegan's tightly woven, short sentences are designed for maximum impact, and her book makes the absolute most of its 118 pages.
"What was it all for? Furlong wondered. The work and the constant worry. Getting up in the dark and going to the yard, making the deliveries, one after another, the whole day long, then coming home in the dark and trying to wash the black off himself and sitting into a dinner at the table and falling asleep before waking in the dark to meet a version of the same thing, yet again. Might things never change or develop into something else, or new?"
I read this beautifully written story over two days, mesmerized by the exploration of the concentric ripples and fallout of institutional abuse. "Small Things Like These" is subtle and nuanced, exploring what it means to be part of a family, part of a community, part of a country -- and the responsibility it entails in the face of impossible choices.
"The worst was yet to come, he knew. Already he could feel a world of trouble waiting for him behind the next door, but the worst that could have happened was already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been -- which he would have had to live with for the rest of his life."
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