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A review by emmavani
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
5.0
What a beautiful novella. I only wish I had read it around Christmas. I read one review that referred to this as a "feminist retelling of A Christmas Carol." It certainly felt Dickensian, but to be honest I didn't notice any overtly feminist themes. Themes I did notice: what makes someone family, altriusm, rags to riches, longing. Bill Furlough seemed to exist on this spectrum of gratitude-for-what-he-has to longing-for-what-might-be that I thought was beautiful and relatable.
I also learned about the Magdalen Laundromats, which I'd never heard of. This book didn't seem expressly critical of the catholic church, or even of the nuns running the laundromat/asylum who had perfectly lovely interactions with Bill. But it did make it clear that him taking the girl away to anywhere else was giving her a better life, and it inspired me to learn a bit about the history of them.
I also learned about the Magdalen Laundromats, which I'd never heard of. This book didn't seem expressly critical of the catholic church, or even of the nuns running the laundromat/asylum who had perfectly lovely interactions with Bill. But it did make it clear that him taking the girl away to anywhere else was giving her a better life, and it inspired me to learn a bit about the history of them.