Set in 1985, this novella focuses on a small Irish town, and a coal miner called Furlong for whom the Christmas season is bringing up memories of his mother, his childhood and his own experience as a father and husband to a family of young girls. But on the outskirts of the town, there's a Magdalene Laundry, the goings on within are ignored by the townspeople for fear of retaliation from the Catholic Church and other selfish reasons.

This short story was beautifully told, and I really enjoyed learning about Furlong, a simple, gentle man who gets on about his business, and tries to help rear his family as best he can - be a good husband and father, especially seeing as he's had no experience of the latter being born out of wedlock to an unmarried woman. During the story, we see Furlong continue to struggle with the unknowns of his own history - never finding out who is father is, and wondering about that part of himself and even as a grown man in his 40s, he yearns for that connection.

Furlong's own history and the what could have been if his mother's employer hadn't taken her in, and helped her in the rearing of her son, makes the shadow of the laundry and the treatment of the girls and babes all the more poignant as Furlong really begins to figure out the terrible things behind the door. And the story also shows the terrible power the church had in Ireland at the time - how people turned a blind eye out of cruelty, ignorance or most of the time fear because the Church had a hand in literally everything and could ruin lives as easy as that.

I would have loved for this to be longer, as I really felt a connection with Furlong - such a simple, nice soul - an ordinary gent who can no longer stand by and do nothing for those more unfortunate - and I could have stayed with him for another 300 pages. I would have loved to have seen the effects of his actions though I know they are heavily implied within the story already. Enjoyed this a lot but sad it was as short as it was.