Small Things Like These: a Book Discussion

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Sam VanNest

Sam VanNest graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in ’09, went on to get an MA in English from University of Oregon, before moving back home to Easton, Maryland in ’14 to write and teach

Keegan did an amazing job of letting you know how to feel about people with just a few details. Find out how she conveys her characters.

We will read and discuss Claire Keegan’s most recent short novel in a small group discussion style.

Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan’s landmark 2021 novel, a tale of one man’s courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family.

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

An international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers. This book has racked up numerous honors:

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK 2024

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB PICK 2024

A New York Times Bestseller • Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize • Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction

One of the New York Times‘s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CILLIAN MURPHY