Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ringofkeyz 's review for:
Small Things Like These
by Claire Keegan
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Once again, the Catholic Church is always at the scene of the crime.
Though it's a fictionalized story, it still gave poignant insight into the history of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. After reading this book, I want to learn more about these institutions and how this suffering came to be: how the Irish government and the Catholic Church both allowed and orchestrated these happenings.
It's interesting reading about the failings and cruelties of the Roman Catholic Church. Interesting to me because for all the 8 years I spent at a Roman Catholic school, I never knew this happened. Organizations that commit reprehensible sins never want to admit what they're capable of, and I think this books sheds light on that fact very well. Even more so, Keegan does a great job at pointing out the hypocrisy of the Church: highlighting Catholic values of forgiveness and loving your neighbour through the character of Furlong and juxtaposing that wth the actions of Mother Superior and her convent.
What I loved most about this book was through that juxtaposition, Keegan never looks down upon the religion. The criticism lies solely with the organization. And she uses Furlong as an example of showing what true Catholic values look like when acted upon.
Though it's a fictionalized story, it still gave poignant insight into the history of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. After reading this book, I want to learn more about these institutions and how this suffering came to be: how the Irish government and the Catholic Church both allowed and orchestrated these happenings.
It's interesting reading about the failings and cruelties of the Roman Catholic Church. Interesting to me because for all the 8 years I spent at a Roman Catholic school, I never knew this happened. Organizations that commit reprehensible sins never want to admit what they're capable of, and I think this books sheds light on that fact very well. Even more so, Keegan does a great job at pointing out the hypocrisy of the Church: highlighting Catholic values of forgiveness and loving your neighbour through the character of Furlong and juxtaposing that wth the actions of Mother Superior and her convent.
What I loved most about this book was through that juxtaposition, Keegan never looks down upon the religion. The criticism lies solely with the organization. And she uses Furlong as an example of showing what true Catholic values look like when acted upon.
QUOTE THAT WILL STAY WITH ME:
“What most tormented him was not so much how she’d been left in the coal shed or the stance of the Mother Superior; the worst was how the girl had been handled while he was present and how he’d allowed that and had not asked about her baby – the one thing she had asked him to do – and how he had taken the money and left her there at the table with nothing before her and the breast milk leaking under the little cardigan and staining her blouse, and how he’d gone on, like a hypocrite, to Mass.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent