1
of
1
Small Things Like These
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 370,947 ratings, 43,910 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2100
$2499
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY
Found a better price? Request a price match
Small Things Like These
$2100
$2499
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Shirl's Pick
An exquisite winter tale of courage - and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.
An exquisite winter tale of courage - and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Set in 1985, in a small Irish town, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan tells the poignant story of Bill Furlong, a dedicated coal and timber merchant. As Christmas approaches, Bill finds himself busier than ever, delivering fuel to the cold homes of his neighbours. Amidst his routine, he begins to confront the quiet, oppressive presence of the Church in his community and faces unsettling truths about the past.
This compelling novella beautifully captures the essence of its time and place, offering an intimate glimpse into the lives and moral dilemmas of its characters. Through masterful storytelling, Keegan creates an atmosphere thick with the weight of unspoken history and the delicate interplay between guilt and redemption.
'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Tóibín
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
Described as "a genuine once-in-a-generation writer" by The Times, Claire Keegan's work is celebrated for its precision and emotional depth. Sunday Times calls Small Things Like These "a snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages." Hilary Mantel praises it as "powerful and affecting and very timely... deeply moving," while Sinead Gleeson admires its haunting beauty, labelling it "a haunting, hopeful masterpiece."
The novella is not only a commentary on individual morality but also a reflection on societal complicity, as noted by many reviewers. The Daily Telegraph deems it "remarkable" and "truly exquisite," while the Observer sees it as "a restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love." Sarah Moss commends its precision, describing it as "marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once."
Small Things Like These is a work of great subtlety and power, making it a must-read for anyone who appreciates rich, character-driven narratives and the exploration of profound themes within the seemingly ordinary moments of life.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is praised for its evocative prose and emotional depth, capturing the bleakness of Irish life in the 1980s. Reviewers highlight its quiet, powerful storytelling and the moral courage of the protagonist. The novella's succinctness and impactful narrative left many readers deeply moved.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780571368709
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 03 November 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Edition: Main
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 9.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 149g
Pages: 128
About the Author
Claire Keegan was brought up on a farm in Ireland. Her stories have won numerous awards and are translated into more than 20 languages. Foster was named by The Times as one of the top 50 novels to be published in the 21st Century. Keegan is now holding the Briena Staunton Fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Also by Claire Keegan
View all-
Foster
Foster by Claire Keegan is a masterful novella, unfolding during a scorching summer in rural Ireland. The poignant narrative follows a young girl who is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, uncertain of when—or if—she will return to her family. As she adjusts to the rhythms of her new life, she finds a warmth and kindness that...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
So Late in the Day
A genuine once-in-a-generation writer. - The Times Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving. - Hilary Mantel Claire Keegan makes her moments real - and then she makes them matter. - Colm Toibin After an uneventful Friday at the Dublin office, Cathal faces into the long weekend and takes...Hardback$2000Elsewhere:$2299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Foster
A stunning new hardback edition of Claire Keegan's classic and beloved novella Foster. WINNER OF THE DAVY BYRNES IRISH WRITING AWARD 'A real jewel.' Irish Independent 'A small miracle.' Sunday Times 'A thing of finely honed beauty.' Guardian 'As good as Chekhov.' David Mitchell It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster...Hardback$2700Elsewhere:$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Walk the Blue Fields
A long-haired woman moves into the priest's house and sets fire to his furniture. That Christmas, the electricity goes out. A forester mortgages his land and goes off to a seaside town looking for a wife. He finds a woman eating alone in the hotel. A farmer wakes half-naked and realises the money is almost gone. And in the title...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Forester's Daughter
The evening is fine. In the sky, a few early stars are shining of their own accord. She watches the dog licking the bowl clean. This dog will break her daughter's heart, she's sure of it. The Forester's Daughter by Claire Keegan takes us into the heart of the Wicklow countryside, exploring the life of the farming family of Victor...Paperback$1499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Antarctica
The stunning debut story collection from the author of Foster and the Booker Prize shortlisted Small Things Like These. 'A beautiful, tender work of great clarity.' - Sebastian Barry 'Among the finest contemporary stories written recently in English.' - Observer A secret one-night tryst in the city. A sister's revenge. A love-struck doctor. A missing girl. In Antarctica, an astonishing...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Small Things Like These
'A single one of Keegan's grounded, powerful sentences can contain volumes of social history. Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving.' - Hilary Mantel 'This is a tale of courage and compassion, of good sons and vulnerable young mothers. Absolutely beautiful.' - Douglas Stuart 'Marvellous - exact and icy...Hardback$2700Elsewhere:$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Small Things Like These
A stunning new edition of Claire Keegan's multi-award-winning, bestselling novel Small Things Like These. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CILLIAN MURPHY A SUNDAY TIMES AND IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' '100 Best Books of the 21st Century' WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE AND THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE...Hardback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
So Late in the Day
From the bestselling author, Claire Keegan, an exquisitely written story which finds an unsatisfied man on his bus journey home reflect on the love that got away. After an uneventful Friday at the Dublin office, Cathal faces into the long weekend and takes the bus home. There, his mind agitates over a woman named Sabine with whom he could have...Paperback$1999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Antarctica
'A beautiful, tender work of great clarity.' — SEBASTIAN BARRY 'Simply put, Claire Keegan is one of the greatest fiction writers in the world.' — GEORGE SAUNDERS 'Among the finest contemporary stories written recently in English.' — OBSERVER A secret one-night tryst in the city. A sister's revenge. A love-struck doctor. A missing girl. In Antarctica, an astonishing sequence of...Hardback$2699Elsewhere:$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Walk the Blue Fields
AN IRISH TIMES TOP 100 IRISH BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY'Exquisite . so intricately wrought, so strange and beguiling as to entirely bewitch.' GUARDIAN'Pure magic.' COLM TÓIBÍN'Lyrical, thoughtful, but with a thick, dark strain of melancholy running through.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYA long-haired woman moves into the priest's house and sets fire to his furniture. That Christmas, the electricity goes out....Hardback$2699Elsewhere:$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Walk the Blue Fields
From the author of Foster and the Booker Prize shortlisted Small Things Like These. 'Perfect short stories.' – Anne Enright 'Breath-taking.' – Irish Times 'Her stories are as good as Chekhov.' – David Mitchell A writer alone at a retreat is faced with an unwelcome visitor. A priest seeks solace from a romantic memory. A farmhand regrets losing the finest...Paperback$2499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from General Fiction
View all-
The Wedding People
'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Yesteryear
A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Fourth Wing
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NUMBER ONE GLOBAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON! DON'T MISS OUT ON THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'This book contains an addictive, drug-like essence that will make you relinquish all responsibility until the very last word. Do not say I didn't warn you' Glamour 'I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, and when I finished, I...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Iron Flame
The instant number one Sunday Times bestseller and thrilling sequel to the global phenomenon, Fourth Wing! DON'T BE THE LAST TO DISCOVER THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'Yarros is the true inheritor of Harry Potter and inspires Hunger Games levels of devotion' Guardian 'Fear not, levels of fighting, rebelliousness and all-round sexiness are still sky-high' Daily Mail...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...Hardback$4699Elsewhere:$6000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Theo of Golden
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...Paperback$2899Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
A Court of Thorns and Roses
The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan – Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift sass, Fifty Shades-level athleticism – The Sunday Times With bits of Buffy, Game of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Gate of the Feral Gods
The fourth book in the explosive LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent. Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess...Hardback$6000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Dungeon Crawler Carl
The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseCarl's Doomsday Scenario
Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Carl and Princess Donut have to team up with other contestants to not just survive, but to solve a deadly puzzle in this third, mind-twisting novel in the addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition! Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The...Hardback$4700Elsewhere:$6000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
A Court of Silver Flames
The latest instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think Game of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a drizzle of E.L. James – Telegraph Spiced with slick plotting and atmospheric world-building...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
General Fiction lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Fiction about Fathers
Here are some incredible stories that explore various angles of fatherhood and father figures in the most poignant and wonderful ways. Featuring...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
What to read now you've watched The Odyssey
Contemporary fiction, classical non-fiction, feminist retellings, and inspired stories that would make for an interesting read now that you're obsessed with The...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Kevin's listGeneral Fiction
The Odyssey & Trojan War Classics (and Retellings)
Long before Christopher Nolan turned it into a blockbuster in the summer of 2026, The Odyssey was the original epic. After a...View the list -
![Tsubaki Stationery Store]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Have You Tried ... Healing Fiction
Healing Fiction is a relatively new genre still finding it's place, and yet people are reaching for it without realizing, desperate for...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Favourite Picks for Winter Reading
These are the books that Lizzy loves to read in Winter, or that feel like Winter. A combination of fiction, some non-fiction,...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Favourite Books of 2026
The first half of 2026 has been packed with brilliant books, making it hard to choose favourites but here are a few...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Books to Escape a Reading Slump
A reading slump can be a frustrating feeling and hard to break out of, but we've gathered together a list of crowd...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Star Shipped]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Pride Fiction Picks!
June marks Global Pride Month so in case you're looking for your next great fiction read, here's a list of some of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Readers’ Top 100 Novels of All Time - from The Guardian
There was some controversy when The Guardian released their critics and authors list of the top 100 novels of all time, but...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Seasonal Reads - 10 Books for Autumn
If you haven't tried seasonal reading, Lizzy thinks you should. It's a way to romanticizing the current season rather than trying to...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listGeneral Fiction
Gothic Reads for Dark Nights
With the advent of movie adaptations like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, it looks like pop culture is seeing a revival of the...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
General Fiction
The 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Winners
Celebrate all the winners of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Explore the powerful fiction of Ingrid Horrocks' 'All Her Lives',...View the list
