Staff Pick: So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

This short, compact book is a powerful and occasionally abrasive piece of writing. It can be read in one sitting and possibly in under an hour. The story, which packs a remarkable amount into a mere 47 pages, begins wistfully and melancholically but ends rather cruelly leaving a bitter taste.

Recapping a book this short is pointless but the issues it raises are ones familiar to many.
Specifically, for example, the question of how one can maintain one’s individuality while allowing another person to share their space or indeed their life. Similarly, anyone who has felt themselves being taken advantage of in a financial transaction but who, for the sake of saving face, has gone through with it anyway will see their experience painfully reproduced. The book manages to expose the hard financial and psychological realities behind relationships in short, devastating passages.

Those who read Small Things Like These will see themes being repeated but expressed more explicitly. Crucially, the themes are recurring in a story which takes place in 21st Century rather than 1980s Ireland. Some readers, men in particular, will find some of these themes challenging but maybe being challenged is precisely what is needed. Even if some feel that they don’t recognise the picture being painted, there is an extent to which engaging with this portrayal forces one to acknowledge that it is probably someone’s reality and there’s no denying the power of the writing. This is an excellent piece of fiction and essential reading.

Submitted by Peadar, Libraries IT

Reserve the book from our catalogue.  Also available as an Audiobook.