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Small Things Like These
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 1 hr and 57 mins
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Small Things Like These
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Summary
FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FOSTER, ANTARCTICA AND WALK THE BLUE FIELDS
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church. The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.
Critic reviews
"This is a tale of courage and compassion, of good sons and vulnerable young mothers. Absolutely beautiful." (Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain - winner of the Booker Prize 2020)
"[Claire Keegan] creates luminous effects with spare material, so every line seems to be a lesson in the perfect deployment of both style and emotion." (Hilary Mantel)
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What listeners say about Small Things Like These
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- marianna c.
- 29-10-21
At last!! A novel by Claire Keegan :)
I've waited ages for this, and I listened in one go. However, I am left with the feeling that I should have bought the paper copy and 'consumed' the story the usual way I've done with CK's shorter works. I think the story would have made a bigger impact on me if I had.
This is essentially a story about the private goings-on inside a thoughtful man's head - hearing this all spoken aloud just doesn't seem right. Maybe some stories are best inhabited silently. If so, this is one of them.
Additionally and unfortunately, there are some issues with the audio which really didn't help - and the final chapter in particular could do with a proof listen for pick-ups 🥴
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33 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Keith
- 04-11-21
Stunning
This really is extraordinary. A novella of incredible penetration of a period in Ireland when we were lacking such a basic empathy towards some women and girls. She inhabits a small story within that lack of empathy and it is very stirring. Beautifully read too. Brilliant.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-01-22
too Short
loved it. Well written. was just settling in to the story when it came to an abrupt end. left ne wanting more.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 21-12-21
if i could score this book 6 I would
this book will stay with you for ever, for so many different reasons. So cleverly written, a story that makes you want to find out more. this is my top read of 2021.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Margaret Knight
- 10-12-21
Too Short to
The story was well narrated, and told of how the truth of the situation F found himself in percolated his mind and conscience until he took action.
It was more like an introduction than a complete story.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hazy Daze
- 10-10-22
Can we have a woman narrating women’s history
Why have a man narrating? Come on Audible, have some insight - this is women’s history
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lindessa
- 18-09-22
too short
i enjoyed the story snd narrator but i felt short changed as just i was into the story it abrupty finished
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- monika
- 01-01-22
review
liked the story but found it ferry short ,, surprised when book ended at end of chapter 7,,, feel there is another book to be written about what happens next
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Seán D Rafter
- 17-10-22
Narrator’s voice not authentic
The story is beautiful, powerful, emotional and meaningful.
The power of the story is taken away by the narrator whose accents places the story somewhere between dublin and Irish America. I’m from the South East of Ireland and that’s not how people ever spoke.
Nevertheless a deeply impactful story.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-09-22
Brilliant
Had me hooked beginning to end, a great story authentically told leaving one reminded, there's always hope
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Earnest
- 08-09-22
Stunned again
A world of trouble does in fact face all those who act bravely and those who do not. The novelist strikes vivid fear in all of us who have seen small things like these and acted one way or the other. Spellbinding story. The scene between the Mother Superior and the main character is so full of restrained malevolence, I could hardly breathe. Sadly, so many of us have faced such people amongst us. Powerful people - and we lose all agency. Read this.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Zeno
- 16-04-23
What's the point if we don't help each other?
A novella, and such a powerful one. Simply and beautifully told - you don't get a sense that you're in 1985. But yes, there story is essentially set in modern times. As the story unfolds, it certainly doesn't feel that way - it feels like something out of 1885. And there, in our time, something atrocious - the Magdalene Laundries - was happening in plain sight and no one did a thing about it. In this story, one plain man, a good man, asks - what's the point of being alive if we don't help each other? And where everyone else chooses to look the other way, he lends a hand and helps - well knowing that hardship will come at him and his family from every side once he helps. It's a great read - I read the paperback first, then wanted to listen to it, too. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-12-22
Exquisite writing
Claire Keegens writing is exquisite, diamond Sharp, not a superfluous word. You live in the story and the characters are beautifully realized as well as Irish life in 1947. The book is not long but because of her writing one feels the satisfaction and joy of having been utterly absorbed by a much longer novel.
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