The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Keegan, Claire. Small Things Like These. Grove Press, 2021.

Claire Keegan’s novella Small Things Like These is written from the third-person limited perspective. Keegan utilizes the past tense throughout the narrative.

Bill Furlong is the coal and timber merchant in a small Irish town in the mid-1980s. Furlong and his employees work diligently as the Christmas season approaches. In the second chapter, Keegan describes Furlong’s childhood. When Furlong’s mother became pregnant at sixteen, her employer—a kind Protestant woman named Mrs. Wilson—took her in. Furlong then grew up in Mrs. Wilson’s warm and welcoming home, unaware of his father’s identity. During this time, he became close with Ned, Mrs. Wilsons’ farmhand. Furlong later attended technical school and eventually found work in the coal yard.

Furlong now lives with his wife, Eileen, and their five daughters. Their life is simple yet largely happy. Furlong often feels empathy for the less fortunate members of his community. Layoffs, poverty, and political conflict abound throughout the country.

On the first Sunday of December, the Furlongs attend a holiday event in the town center. That evening, the family cooks a Christmas cake and the daughters write letters to Santa Claus. Furlong considers the ceaseless, often monotonous passage of time. He thinks about his unknown father. After their daughters go to bed, Eileen and Furlong briefly discuss Furlong’s weariness. He wonders if he is a good husband to Eileen.

Vague rumors of abuse and neglect surround the local convent, which employs many poor and abandoned young women. One evening, Furlong makes a delivery to the convent and encounters a young woman who asks him to help her escape. She says that she hopes to drown herself in the river. Furlong leaves the convent without assisting her, but he later tells Eileen about the woman. She sternly tells him that they should concentrate on their own family and not involve themselves in the convent’s affairs.

The week of Christmas proves extremely busy for Furlong. One morning, he makes an early delivery to the convent. He finds an abused young woman locked in the coal house. An administrator from the convent intercepts Furlong and the young woman; she claims that the young woman had been accidentally locked in the coal house during a game. Furlong has tea with Mother Superior, who pointedly asks about his family. His daughters’ school is affiliated with the convent. On his way out, Furlong introduces himself to the young woman and tells her to contact him if she needs help.

Furlong and his family attend Mass. That evening, Furlong feels extremely restless. He decides to visit Ned. A woman at the Wilson home tells Furlong that Ned has been hospitalized. She casually remarks that Furlong greatly resembles Ned; he begins to suspect that Ned is his father.

On Christmas Eve, Furlong makes a series of deliveries. He leaves logs for several families who cannot afford them. In town, Furlong joins his employees for a meal. Mrs. Kehoe, the owner of the restaurant, gently warns him not to meddle in the convent’s affairs. She reminds him that the Church is an extremely powerful force in town. Furlong wanders through town, stopping to get a haircut and to pick up a present for Eileen. He thinks about Ned, and remarks that the closest things are often the hardest to see. He then goes to the convent, opens the coal house, and again finds the abused young woman. He walks with her through town, intending to take her to his own home. The odd pair attracts the attention of many townsfolk. Despite the difficult situation, Furlong notes that it would have been far worse to have not helped the woman at all.