Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces his busiest season. As he goes round the houses making deliveries, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a small community controlled by the Church.

This is a short book and the story is simply told. Bill is busy delivering coal and timber in the weeks before Christmas. He and his wife are always on the go – it is not easy running a household with five daughters and providing enough income to keep them all adequately fed, clothed and sheltered.

Bill’s own story was that he was born to a very young mother and does not know his father. Although he is naturally curious about his history, he is grateful to have been brought up by the owner of the house in which Bill’s mother worked, which is unusual for the times.

The story reaches a turning point when Bill is delivering timber to the nuns at the local abbey. Without giving away spoilers, he has a shock when he makes an unexpected discovery at the abbey. He reflects on what he has seen and draws parallels with his own background. Despite the community turning a blind eye to what they all know is happening at the abbey, Bill feels compelled to act.

A running theme throughout this book is the hypocrisy of the church. It is easy to assume that ministers of the church are inherently virtuous due to the beliefs it is their job to preach and uphold. But this makes it all the more repellent when they are found to have breached someone’s trust or treated them poorly, especially when they say it is in the name of religion like the nuns in this book. This hypocrisy has been brought to light over the last few years in various ways, and Small Things Like These is written in the context of a real scandal in the Irish church. It is topical and simply written, and well worth a read.