'Small Things Like These' draws from the true story of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Small Things Like These is a novella by Claire Keegan that centers around Bill Furlong, an Irish coal merchant who discovers exploitation at a local convent. The story is based on the real-life history of the Magdalene Laundries, workhouses where Irish girls and women were forced into unpaid labor. Keegan's book, originally published in 2021, was adapted to film in the fall of 2024. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Keegan and Here & Now's Deborah Becker. They discuss the author's interest in the novella form and why she chose to write a women-centered story with a male protagonist.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. When do authors know they're done? When is a story
0:08.6	fully told? It's a question I love hearing writers' answer because it's so different from person
0:13.9	to person. But it's especially interesting to hear Claire Keegan answer it. She's the author of
0:18.9	the booker-nominated book, Small Things Like
0:21.1	These, and she seems like a ruthless writer. What I mean by that is, in this conversation
0:26.0	with here now is Deborah Becker, Keegan talks about constantly paring down her sentences,
0:30.7	making sure she isn't being too gregarious, not one line overwritten. And so how does she
0:36.2	know when she's done writing?
0:38.1	That's ahead.
0:43.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:50.1	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
0:55.3	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your
1:01.2	podcasts. Irish writer Claire Keegan is having a moment. Her 2021 novella Small Things Like
1:09.8	These was just announced as Oprah's latest book club pick,
1:14.2	and a movie adaptation of the book starring Oscar-winning actor Killian Murphy was released this fall.
1:20.4	Small things like these centers on Bill Furlong, an Irish coal merchant who, just before Christmas,
1:26.5	discovers a woman who's being exploited at a local convent.
1:31.2	The story takes inspiration from and is dedicated to the women and children of the real-life Magdalene Laundries.
1:39.0	That was a program run by the Catholic Church where so-called fallen women were forced into unpaid labor.
1:45.4	Claire Keegan is here to tell us more. Welcome and congratulations.
1:49.5	Thank you very much.
1:51.0	When your book was published in 2021, small things like these was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
	...

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