Foster

Small Things Like These

by Claire Keegan

Grove Press

    Both of these novels are quietly moving, lyrical and brief almost to the point of poetry. There's not a stray word here. Small Things Like These tells of a man and a family making a kind decision that is beyond the norm for their small town and braver than they acknowledge. Foster has been made into an Irish language film - The Quiet Girl -  that I haven't yet seen. It tells of a young girl staying with relatives while her mother nears her due date and gives birth to another in a not-small family. With her older relatives she discovers a different, calmer way of living - filled with grief and humor and love.

    Keegan has short story collections - Walk the Blue Fields and Antarctica are also available from Grove Press. A friend reports listening to these as audio books with wonderful Irish readers.

             

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