Small Things Like These

 Small Things Like These (2021) by Claire Keegan

When Bill Furlong's unwed mother became pregnant, the good-hearted Mrs. Wilson did not turn her servant out like so many employers in the 1940s would have...and did. She didn't mind what the neighbors might say about the situation. It didn't matter that the more openly religious villagers might think she was condoning sin. She simply did what she considered right according to her own moral code. 

Bill has never forgotten how kind Mrs. Wilson was to him and his mother. Nor has he forgotten how she gave him a start in life when he became engaged to be married. Here and there, he's managed to give a few coins to those less well off than himself and his little family--and his friends and his wife think he's too soft-hearted. Just as Christmas is getting close, he gets an up close and personal look at what goes on at the local convent's laundry business and he's not sure his conscience will let him forget what he's seen. He has to decide if he will follow in Mrs. Wilson's footsteps and do what's right--even if it means the nuns at the convent and his own family will be angry. 

Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian and face yourself in the mirror?

A small book that packs a big punch. It shows the reader how one person can stand up against what is morally wrong--even in the face of a monolithic presence like the Catholic Church in Ireland of the 1940s. And how that act of kindness can affect future generations. Bill has to decide if it's worth it to keep on behaving "respectably," keeping one's head down and not making any waves to make sure he keeps getting by and yet be morally bankrupt. It is sometimes very difficult to go against convention and do the right thing. Bill makes his choice and we have to hope that his family will support him. ★★★★

First line: In October there were yellow trees.

Before long, he caught a hold of himself and concluded that nothing ever did happen again; to each was given days and chances which wouldn't come back around.

Last line: Climbing the street toward  his own front door with the barefooted girl and the box of shoes, his fear more than outweighed every other feeling but in his foolish heart he not only hoped but legitimately believed that they would manage.