Small Things Like These // a book pairing

“What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things?”

Always it was the same, Furlong thought; always they carried mechanically on without pause, to the next job at hand. What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things? Might their lives be different or much the same – or would they just lose the run of themselves?

In Claire Keegan’s Small Things These, Furlong, our narrator is making some final deliveries of coal and firewood before Christmas. “People could be good Furlong reminded himself, as he drove back to town; ‘it was a matter of learning how to manage and balance the give-and-take in a way that let you get on with others as well as your own. But as soon as the thought came to him, he knew the thought itself was privileged and wondered why he hadn’t given the sweets and other things he’d been gifted at some of the houses to the less well-off he had met in others. Always, Christmas brought out the best and the worst in people.”

Small Things Like These immerses us in 1980s Ireland and brings us face to face with our whole selves, the best and sparkliest parts and the meanest most selfish parts, too. It’s a story of Christmas, of kindness and moral courage. A quick read at less than two hundred pages, it’s perfect for an afternoon or evening under a favorite blanket with a fire going. Don’t let its brevity fool you into thinking it’s forgettable, though. These characters and their choices will stay with you long after the cookies have been eaten and the gifts have been opened.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Feels like: cleaning the dirt out from under your fingernails, full, aching breasts, a shoulder to lean on, a fresh haircut, a hot cup of tea in cold hands, dirty feet walking along a snow covered cobblestone street.

Looks like: steam rising off of vats of hot chocolate in a busy town square, the soft glow from a church nativity, shards of glass, bare, the soft glow Christmas lights.

Smells like: a fruit cake baking in the oven, warm gingerbread,

Sounds like: a small, scared voice, children writing letters to Santa, the crackling of a fire, a choir singing Christmas carols in a cold, candlelit church.

Tastes like: toasted beer bread¹ with butter, roasted lamb, Christmas cake, black coffee, a cold 7 Up.

Pairs well with: Annie (the 1999 version, obviously), Time of The Child by Niall Williams, White Christmas, advent hymns, Comfort and Joy by Republic of Tea, Small Things Like These

1. This bread is so ridiculously good. My friend Jordan made it for our December book club and I don’t think a single crumb was left.