She sternly tells him that they should concentrate on their own family and not involve themselves in the convent’s affairs. Furlong leaves the convent without assisting her, but he later tells Eileen about the woman. She says that she hopes to drown herself in the river. One evening, Furlong makes a delivery to the convent and encounters a young woman who asks him to help her escape. Vague rumors of abuse and neglect surround the local convent, which employs many poor and abandoned young women. He wonders if he is a good husband to Eileen. After their daughters go to bed, Eileen and Furlong briefly discuss Furlong’s weariness. Furlong considers the ceaseless, often monotonous passage of time.

That evening, the family cooks a Christmas cake and the daughters write letters to Santa Claus. On the first Sunday of December, the Furlongs attend a holiday event in the town center. Layoffs, poverty, and political conflict abound throughout the country. Furlong often feels empathy for the less fortunate members of his community. Furlong later attended technical school and eventually found work in the coal yard.įurlong now lives with his wife, Eileen, and their five daughters. During this time, he became close with Ned, Mrs. Wilson’s warm and welcoming home, unaware of his father’s identity. When Furlong’s mother became pregnant at sixteen, her employer-a kind Protestant woman named Mrs. In the second chapter, Keegan describes Furlong’s childhood. Furlong and his employees work diligently as the Christmas season approaches. Keegan utilizes the past tense throughout the narrative.īill Furlong is the coal and timber merchant in a small Irish town in the mid-1980s. Grove Press, 2021.Ĭlaire Keegan’s novella Small Things Like These is written from the third-person limited perspective. The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Keegan, Claire.

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