Antarctica: ‘A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.’ THE TIMES

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It would be difficult for me to choose a favorite among these remarkable stories. One which stands out for me is , Sisters , an account of two siblings whose lives took very different paths. One remained at home to care for their aging parents and the other allegedly a life of luxury and ease. Keegan has treated this situation with sensitivity and an unexpected conclusion. In fact, most of her yarns offer an amazing, unanticipated culmination. A strong story was 'Passport Soup'. It's very short but Keegan manages to fit in a whole story, plus complicated emotions into that tiny writerly space, and I felt yes - that's exactly the kind of cruel retaliation a woman might wreak on her husband because of the loss of a child. It felt entirely possible and it's all told from the husband's point of view, so we understand how much men suffer in these situations. Seven stories, including a couple of prizewinners, from an exuberantly talented young Thai-American writer. She thought of Antarctica, the snow and ice and the bodies of dead explorers. Then she thought of hell, and then eternity.’

The true figure of those held remains unknown but it is often said to be at least 10,000, though some have guessed the real figure may be as high as 30,000. Records from the laundries were deliberately destroyed, lost or made inaccessible by the church. While there, the women were forced to labour tirelessly, while suffering physical and mental abuse at the hands of the church. What Keegan invents is most compelling because no one could imagine it better.”—Kevin Grandfield, American Book ReviewFrom the title story about a married woman who takes a trip to the city with a single purpose in mind—to sleep with another man— Antarctica draws you into a world of obsession, betrayal, and fragile relationships. In “Love in the Tall Grass,” Cordelia wakes on the last day of the twentieth century and sets off along the coast road to keep a date, with her lover, that has been nine years in the waiting. In “Passport Soup,” Frank Corso mourns the curious disappearance of his nine-year-old daughter and tries desperately to reach out to his shattered wife who has gone mad with grief. For a while the main message I was getting was one of conservative sexual ethics, one that warns of terrible consequences resulting from women straying outside the bounds of the straight and narrow, however justified she may feel in doing so. The collection opening title story especially gets this reading off and going. But then it seems to have rather been the imagining of the aforementioned worst possible scenarios at the start, something like “The Road” for female struggle against the patriarchy, and we then get an adolescent girl who declares, “It’s turning out that I’m taking no nonsense from anybody”, and she ends the story fine! Ah, what a relief. In all Claire Keegan’s stories, there is a family. The protagonist changes – the father, the mother, a son or daughter. But this figure never stands very far out in front. Instead, the narrative gains its emotional resonance from the dynamics between characters. Within these families there is cruelty and violence, as well as deep springs of affection. There is much left unspoken. “You have nothing to say to your mother. If you started, you would say the wrong things and you wouldn’t want it to end that way,” we learn of the protagonist in The Parting Gift, from Keegan’s second collection, Walk the Blue Fields (2007). In The Ginger Rogers Sermon, from her first, Antarctica (1999), the protagonist describes the trivial secrets they all keep from one another: “That’s the way it is in our house, everybody knowing things but pretending they don’t.”

Gilmartin, Sarah (24 October 2021). "Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: a timely and powerful book". The Irish Times . Retrieved 25 January 2022. Lately, he had begun to wonder what mattered, apart from Eileen and the girls. He was touching forty but didn’t feel himself to be getting anywhere or making any kind of headway and could not but sometimes wonder what the days were for. (p. 33) Weariness, worry and repetition are imbued in the story and Furlong’s character seems like a man on the brink. What are the factors that have led to this? Keegan's powerful prose and economy of words create authentic, multidimensional characters. The reader identifies with them or recognizes them in someone in real life, and consequently cares about them in the space of a paragraph or two.

Discover the authors nominated for the Ireland Francophonie Ambassadors' Literary Award 2021". Ambassade de France en Irlande - French Embassy in Ireland. Economic hardship is woven throughout the narrative of Small Things Like These. How does the author’s use of language and detailing evoke this sense within the novel? The first story, "Antarctica," is about a married woman who decides to find out what it might be like to sleep with a man other than her husband. And I won’t comfort you. I will not be the woman who shelters her man same as he’s a boy. That part of my people ends with me.’ MADAME FIGARO, finalistes du Grand Prix de l'Héroïne 2021, vendredi 12 février 2021 | Revue de presse • SABINE WESPIESER ÉDITEUR".