{"product_id":"0802158749-small_things_like_these_oprahs_book_club","title":"Small Things Like These (Oprah's Book Club)","description":"\n\u003cp\u003eProduct Description      \u003cbr\u003e\"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time.\" âLily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers \u0026amp; Lovers\u003cbr\u003eSmall Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family\u003cbr\u003eIt is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. \u003cbr\u003eAlready an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.\u003cbr\u003e      Review      \u003cbr\u003ePraise for Small Things Like These:\u003cbr\u003eAn NPR âBooks We Loveâ of 2021 selection\u003cbr\u003eA Chicago Public Library âBest of the Bestâ of 2021 selection\u003cbr\u003ePeople Magazineâs âBook of the Weekâ\u003cbr\u003eA Publishers Weekly \"Holiday Gift Guide 2021\" Selection\u003cbr\u003eâFor all her earlier accolades, Small Things Like These, Keeganâs first novel, enters the world this month with the shocking force of a debutâ¦Over what would amount to a couple of chapters in another novel, Keegan manages to place her characters and her readers at the center of an essential human dilemma: Will we turn a blind eye to evil in our midst, or will we take some action against it, even if it consists of just one small thing? As Keeganâs concise, capacious new book demonstrates, little acts can lead to real change.ââLos Angeles Times\u003cbr\u003eâKeeganâs precisely considered details about character, setting, memory, and dramatic moment create a story you will want to read again and again. Her deceptively simple language is pitch-perfect.ââBoston Globe\u003cbr\u003eâThis exquisite miniature of a novel somehow defies the gravitational pull of its grim subject to hover in a quotidian, luminous present. Details materialize with preternatural clarity. The milky light of a winter afternoon, mist on a river, a woman opening an oven door, a child taking her fatherâs hand: We see these things and feel their lingering presence as we are drawn into the life of an unassuming man in an unremarkable place.ââThe Wall Street Journal\u003cbr\u003eâClaire Keeganâ¦now gives us her best work yet. Small Things Like These is a short, wrenching, thoroughly brilliant novel mapping the path of one man's conscience, its torment and vacillation between two courses of action. Either one bears a priceâ¦Spare and potent, this is a remarkable story.â âMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003cbr\u003eâA sparse, breathtaking perfect gem of a novel.ââPeople \u003cbr\u003eâSmall Things Like These is a gem of a slim novel about a family man faced with a moral decisionâ¦ a deeply moving tale.ââAssociated Press\\\u003cbr\u003eâKeegan captured and affected my whole attention. She draws a web of complicity around the conventâs activities that is chillingly mundane and brutally true. These kinds of places existed not just because of the cruelty of the people who ran them, but also because of the fear and selfishness of those who were willing to ignore them. Stunning. Just stunning.ââCatherine Whelan, NPR  \u003cbr\u003eâThe novel isnât just an eloquent attack on [Magdalene] laundries, however. It is also a touching Christmas tale, genuinely reminiscent of the festive stories of O Henry and Charles Dickens; a novel that has been seeped in sherry and served by the firesideâ¦As soon as you pick the novel up, itâs all over. The monumental power of Claire Keegan is that she can create these cuckoo-clock narratives where every single word seems to be a necessary contribution to the overall mechanism of the novel. She is all killer, no filler. â¦How lucky we are to have Keegan, a genuine once-in-a-generation writer whose dedication to her craft is as meticulous as it is masterly.ââThe Times (UK)\u003cbr\u003eâKeegan distils the years of suffering and torture that went on across the coun\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCategories:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePolitics \u0026amp; Social Sciences\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSociology\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eReference\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"Used - Very Good","offer_id":47017174958270,"sku":"0802158749-3","price":19.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0640\/9689\/5166\/files\/71F6_OyiN7L.jpg?v=1778520968","url":"https:\/\/shop.sustainablebooks.com\/products\/0802158749-small_things_like_these_oprahs_book_club","provider":"Sustainable Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}