Fran's Reviews > Small Things Like These

Bill Furlong "came from nothing". His mother, a domestic for well-off Mrs. Wilson, was pregnant at sixteen. Mrs. Wilson nurtured and educated Bill, becoming his benefactor, even providing him with start-up money for his coal and timber business. Bill never knew his father. Ned, Mrs. Wilson's farmhand, lived in the house with Mrs. Wilson and Bill. Bill had worked his way up in the coal yard. "It seemed both proper and at the same time deeply unfair that so much of life was left to chance." In his case, he was taught to treat people the way he wished to be treated.

It was coming upon winter of 1985 in the town of New Ross, Ireland. "...nights came on and the frosts took hold...blades of cold slid under doors. Bill's employees were tasked with packing up orders of coal, anthracite, logs, briquettes and bottled gas. During the busy Christmas season, Bill made most of the deliveries himself. "Some part of his mind was often tense:...many an unfortunate he'd seen around town and out the country roads. The dole queues were getting longer." The times were raw but Bill Furlong felt all the more determined to carry on, to keep his head down and stay on the right side of people, to keep providing for his girls, to see them...completing their education...".

Furlong was a forward thinker. His mind was always on tomorrow. Where was the next delivery route? Every day seemed to be a replica of the day prior. What mattered most in life was his wife and five daughters. With Christmas at hand, memories emerged of a simple gift that spoke volumes. Ned, the farmhand, had given young Bill a hot water bottle as a Christmas present supplying him with warmth and comfort.

Ahead of schedule, Furlong made a delivery to the Magdalen Laundry and Training School. By coming earlier than expected, he spotted shoeless girls scrubbing floors in filthy attire. Quietly, one girl begged him to take her to the river, release her from captivity. The girls worked from dawn to dusk, doing penance, and being reformed. Why? Unlocking the coal chute to the shed, Furlong made an appalling discovery. "If you want to get on in life, there's things you have to ignore, so you can keep on." But...where would he be now if Mrs. Wilson had sent his mother to a training school for unwed mothers? Bill Furlong is confronted with a monumental decision.

"Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan is a powerful, eye-opening read of historical fiction that exposes the scandal of the Magdalen Laundries. These institutions were run and financed by the Catholic Church in concert with the Irish state. "Most of the records from the laundries and mother-and-baby homes were destroyed or made inaccessible...It is not known how many girls and women were concealed, incarcerated and forced to labor in these institutions...thirty thousand is probably...accurate." Author Claire Keegan introduces us to Bill Furlong whose moral dilemma and resultant decision might send shock waves through his family and alter the trajectory of their lives. Is he brave enough?

Thank you Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.