Set in an Irish town in 1985 during the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

Claire Keegan’s long-awaited novel Small Things Like These has been praised as ‘a haunting, hopeful masterpiece’ (Sinéad Gleeson) and a ‘tale of courage and compassion, of good sons and vulnerable young mothers’ (Douglas Stuart). The long-awaited new work from the international bestselling author of Foster and Antarctica, delivers an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism, and tenderness.

‘A short, masterful novel . . . Detailed, insightful and written with striking economy of language . . . a timely and powerful book.’  Irish Times

‘A sublime, emotive story, the kind you emerge from as if having been away for a very long time: unsure, at first, how to continue with your own life.’  The Guardian

Claire Keegan was born in 1968 and grew up on a farm in Wicklow. Her short stories include Antarctica (Winner of the Rooney Prize for Fiction) and Walk the Blue Fields and the novella Foster (Davy Byrne’s Irish Writing Award).

Claire will be in conversation with Edel Coffey, journalist, broadcaster and author.

Venue: glór
Cost: €15/€13

This events is sponsored by Ennis Bookshop.

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