Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is a deeply moving novel set in Ireland, 1985. This small book (a compact 114 pages) made a big impact upon its release in 2021, lighting up bestseller lists and winning the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Its simple story of a merchant who makes a disturbing discovery at the local convent struck a chord with readers across the globe. Told in lyrical, almost fable-like language, the novel begins with a description of a small town in winter: smoke billows from chimneys, frost seeps under the doors, the children walk to school bundled against the “raw-cold” weather. Bill Furlong, who runs the local coal and timber business, is in the midst of his busiest season. Despite the exhausting work—he rises at dawn and works into the night to ensure all the deliveries get made—he counts himself lucky to be able to support his wife and five young daughters. One morning before Christmas, Bill is delivering coal at the convent when he stumbles across a locked-away secret; now, he must choose between action and compliance, weighing his heavy conscience against his family’s future in the church-run town.

Clear, purposeful, and revelatory, Small Things Like These reads like a bracing inhale of winter air. Each word feels intentional, and Keegan sees the world in such beautiful detail that even a simple scene—one in particular stuck with me in which Bill’s family makes a Christmas cake, each daughter taking on a different part of the recipe—stays in the memory long after the book ends. Like Dickens delivering his ideas about labor laws through the charming package of A Christmas Carol, Keegan tackles quite serious subject matter in Small Things Like These. Her heartening story of a man and his family at Christmastime also functions as an indictment of the Magdalen Laundries that forced the labor of girls and women until 1996, and the two flow together seamlessly. This book filled me with gratitude and compassion, a lovely reminder to savor the finite days and chances we all get. Small Things Like These is a new classic of the season, and I know I’ll be returning to it again and again.

I’d recommend this book to…

• Anyone looking for a quietly powerful, life-affirming read… it’s similar in tone to Our Town by Thornton Wilder
• Anyone needing a warm reminder of compassion and a dose of Christmas nostalgia… it’s similar in theme to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Anyone who loves concise, intentional writing… it’s similar in style to Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout