Small Things Like These

 By: Claire Keegan

Location: FIC KEE

Genre: Irish Fiction, Novella...

It’s A Wonderful Life or the story of The Good Samaritan

I read this in one day, it infuriated me, challenged me, made me proud to be human and disgusted. The way this book juxtaposed justice and honour messes with you. And the group that should gift justice and honour screw it up and those that you least expect to gift grace does so. It made me mad to be connected to a Christian organisation again, but pleased I hold to a faith that give's hope and courage.

Most of all this book is about whanau, the Irish way, and those parts made my heart sing- which it needed to when my mind was in anger!

Great read!

Bill Furlong is living a quiet, unglamorous life in Ireland. He has a happy life with his wife and five daughters. They have enough to eat and aren’t living on credit. The town has known hard times, factories are closing up, and people are being laid off. Mr. Furlong is making ends meet though, delivering fuel in the form of coals and logs to the townspeople. One day, near Christmas, he makes a delivery at convent when he discovers something that doesn’t sit quite right with him.

If you enjoy It’s A Wonderful Life or the story of The Good Samaritan, you will love this book. This story took hold of me early on. It is set in Ireland where times are hard, economic depression is settling in. Like so many small towns, people are struggling to get by, and people are being driven from their homes, heart wrenched, into the cities to find decent jobs.