claire keegan small things like these book club questions

Unpacking the Heartbreak and Hope: Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These – A Book Club Guide

Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is a novella that packs an emotional punch far beyond its concise length. Its quiet power and profound exploration of conscience and complicity during a pivotal moment in Irish history have captivated readers worldwide, making it an ideal choice for insightful book club discussions. This guide provides compelling discussion questions, explores the novel's thematic depth, and highlights the benefits of using Small Things Like These as a focal point for engaging and enriching conversations.

I. In-Depth Book Club Questions for Small Things Like These

These questions are designed to encourage critical thinking and delve into the novel's multifaceted layers:

• The Power of Silence: How does Keegan utilize silence and unspoken words to convey the emotional weight of the story? Consider specific instances where silence speaks volumes. For example, analyze the unspoken tension between Bill Furlong and his wife, Mary.

• Moral Ambiguity: Bill Furlong is presented as a flawed but ultimately good man. Discuss the complexities of his moral choices. Is he a hero, or simply a man acting in self-interest cloaked in altruism? What are the societal pressures influencing his decisions?

• The Role of Religion: Analyze the role of religion in the novel, particularly the hypocrisy displayed by some members of the clergy. How does Keegan contrast Bill's quiet acts of kindness with the institutionalised indifference of the church?

• Social Commentary: The novel is a poignant commentary on poverty, social injustice, and the lasting impacts of historical trauma. Discuss the societal forces that contribute to the plight of the women and children at the workhouse. How do these issues resonate with contemporary society?

• Character Development: Discuss the development of Bill Furlong's character. How does his relationship with his family, particularly his children, influence his actions? How does his understanding of the situation at the workhouse evolve throughout the story?

• The Significance of Small Acts: How does Keegan elevate the seemingly "small things" into acts of profound significance? What is the symbolic weight of the coal, the food, and the simple acts of defiance?

• The Ending: Discuss the ambiguity of the ending. Does Bill's final act represent true redemption? What are the lasting implications of his choices? What questions does it leave you with?

II. Benefits of Using Small Things Like These for Book Clubs

Accessibility: The novella's concise length makes it manageable for busy schedules, encouraging wider participation.
Emotional Depth: The novel’s potent emotional core fosters rich discussions about complex themes.
Provokes Critical Thinking: The moral ambiguities and nuanced characters require careful consideration, leading to stimulating dialogue.
Historical Context: The novel provides a unique lens through which to explore Irish history and the impact of societal structures.
Universality of Themes: While set in a specific time and place, the novel explores timeless themes of conscience, compassion, and family that resonate across cultures and generations.

III. Related Ideas for Deeper Exploration

A. The Historical Context of Ireland in the 1940s:

Keegan's novel is deeply rooted in the social and political climate of 1940s Ireland. Researching the conditions in Irish workhouses, the role of the Catholic Church, and the prevailing social attitudes toward poverty will significantly enhance book club discussions. A helpful resource would be academic articles and historical accounts focusing on the era. This could lead to a comparative study of similar stories from other cultures and historical contexts.

B. Exploring the Theme of Complicity and Silence:

The novel forces readers to confront the uncomfortable reality of complicity and the devastating consequences of remaining silent in the face of injustice. Comparing Bill Furlong’s actions to real-life examples of bystanders during periods of social unrest or oppression can provide a powerful framework for discussion. Consider the bystander effect in psychology as a lens through which to examine the characters' choices.

C. Analyzing Keegan's Writing Style:

Keegan's minimalist prose is a key element of the novella's power. Analyzing her use of imagery, symbolism, and understated language can unlock deeper layers of meaning. This discussion can be enriched by comparing her style to other contemporary writers who employ similar techniques.

IV. Real-World Examples and Case Studies

While Small Things Like These is fiction, its exploration of complicity mirrors real-world instances of inaction in the face of injustice. For example, the ongoing struggle for social justice and the frequent failure of societal systems to protect vulnerable populations can be used to draw parallels with the novel's narrative. A chart could be created comparing the novel's themes to modern-day parallels:

| Novel Theme | Real-World Parallel | Example |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Poverty and Inequality | Global poverty and wealth disparity | Statistics on global income inequality |
| Institutionalized Injustice | Systemic racism, sexism, homophobia | Examples of police brutality or gender discrimination |
| Complicity and Silence | Bystander effect, failure to report wrongdoing | The Holocaust, instances of cover-ups in organizations |

V. Conclusion

Small Things Like These is not simply a captivating story; it's a call to action. It compels us to examine our own consciences and consider the choices we make in the face of injustice. Using this guide, your book club can engage in a truly enriching discussion of this powerful and thought-provoking novella, expanding your understanding of its intricacies and the crucial social issues it addresses.

VI. Advanced FAQs

• How does the setting of rural Ireland contribute to the story's impact? The rural setting emphasizes the close-knit community and the pressure to conform to societal expectations, making Bill’s rebellion all the more significant. The isolation also highlights the vulnerability of the marginalized.

• What is the symbolism of the Christmas season? The Christmas setting presents a stark contrast between the joy and celebration of the holiday and the harsh realities of poverty and oppression experienced by others, highlighting the hypocrisy of the time.

• How does Keegan use foreshadowing to build suspense? Keegan subtly hints at the potential consequences of Bill's actions throughout the novel, creating an underlying tension that keeps the reader engaged. For instance, the initial descriptions of the workhouse foreshadow the later revelations of its conditions.

• How does the novella challenge traditional notions of heroism? Bill Furlong isn't a traditional hero; he's a flawed individual who grapples with his conscience. This challenges the idea of heroism as flawless action, focusing instead on the moral complexities of everyday choices.

• What is the lasting impact of the novella on the reader? The novella leaves a lasting impression by forcing readers to confront their own potential complicity in overlooking injustice and challenging their understanding of morality and action in the face of hardship. It prompts introspection and a consideration of one’s own responsibilities within society.

  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Small Things Like These (Oprah's Book Club) Claire Keegan, 2021-11-30 OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CILLIAN MURPHY 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 A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time. —Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new 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 into 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.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Foster Claire Keegan, 2010-09-02 ORDER THE NEW NOVEL BY CLAIRE KEEGAN, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, NOW! 'No better feeling than reading a book that makes you excited to discover everything its author has ever written...' - Douglas Stuart (Winner of the Booker Prize 2020) 'Foster confirms Claire Keegan's talent. She creates luminous effects with spare material, so every line seems to be a lesson in the perfect deployment of both style and emotion' - Hilary Mantel (Winner of the Booker Prize 2012 and 2009) 'Marvellous-exact and icy and loving all at once.' - Sarah Moss 'A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' - Sinéad Gleeson A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. And then a secret is revealed and suddenly, she realizes how fragile her idyll is. Winner of the Davy Byrnes Memorial Prize, Foster is now published in a revised and expanded version. Beautiful, sad and eerie, it is a story of astonishing emotional depth, showcasing Claire Keegan's great accomplishment and talent.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Olive Emma Gannon, 2021-03-09 The debut novel about the life-changing choices we make about careers, love, friendship, and motherhood from bestselling UK author Emma Gannon. Olive is many things. Independent. Driven. Loyal. And a little bit adrift. She’s okay with still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations and big choices to be made. So when her best friends’ lives branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, she starts to question her choices—because life according to Olive looks a little bit different. Moving, memorable, and a mirror for anyone at a crossroads, OLIVE has a little bit of all of us. Told with humor and great warmth, this is a modern tale about the obstacle course of adulthood and the challenges of having—and deciding not to have—children.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Walk the Blue Fields Claire Keegan, 2016-03-29 Claire Keegan’s brilliant debut collection, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year, and earned her resounding accolades on both sides of the Atlantic. Now she has delivered her next, much-anticipated book, Walk the Blue Fields, an unforgettable array of quietly wrenching stories about despair and desire in the timeless world of modern-day Ireland. In the never-before-published story “The Long and Painful Death,” a writer awarded a stay to work in Heinrich Böll’s old cottage has her peace interrupted by an unwelcome intruder, whose ulterior motives only emerge as the night progresses. In the title story, a priest waits at the altar to perform a marriage and, during the ceremony and the festivities that follow, battles his memories of a love affair with the bride that led him to question all to which he has dedicated his life; later that night, he finds an unlikely answer in the magical healing powers of a seer. A masterful portrait of a country wrestling with its past and of individuals eking out their futures, Walk the Blue Fields is a breathtaking collection from one of Ireland’s greatest talents, and a resounding articulation of all the yearnings of the human heart.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Antarctica Claire Keegan, 2016-03-29 Compassionate, witty, and unsettling, Antarctica is the debut collection of one of Ireland's most exciting and versatile new talents. Claire Keegan, winner of several prestigious awards including the William Trevor Prize, writes stories that have a razor-sharp narrative style and unembellished tone, and move from the cruel, hard life of rural Ireland to the hot landscape of the southern United States. From 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. Keegan's characters inhabit a world where dreams, memory, and chance can have crippling consequences for those involved. Moving in its quiet intensity, the award-winning Antarctica is a rare and arresting debut.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Every Bone a Prayer Ashley Blooms, 2020-08-04 Blooms has taken the voice and names of Appalachia, tended, and evolved them, and created a book that is at once haunting and hopeful.—NPR Praised by BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, POPSUGAR, Bustle, and more! Misty's holler looks like any of the thousands of hollers that fork through the Appalachian Mountains. But Misty knows her home is different. She may be only ten, but she hears things. Even the crawdads in the creek have something to say, if you listen. All that Misty's sister Penny wants to talk about are the strange objects that start appearing outside their trailer. The grown-ups mutter about sins and punishment, but that doesn't scare Misty. Not like the hurtful thing that's been happening to her, the hurtful thing that is becoming part of her. Ever since her neighbor William cornered her in the barn, she must figure out how to get back to the Misty she was before—the Misty who wasn't afraid to listen. This is the story of one tough-as-nails girl whose choices are few but whose fight is boundless, as her coping becomes a battle cry for everyone around her. Perfect for fans of Southern coming-of-age stories like Where the Crawdads Sing and If The Creek Don't Rise, Every Bone a Prayer is a beautifully honest exploration of healing and of hope. Praise for Every Bone a Prayer: Haunting and healing, Every Bone A Prayer is a powerful debut that will leave its mark on readers' hearts.—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek This is a book and a writer I highly recommend.—Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina This is the kind of book we need to set literary expectations for a new decade. It's so textured, so layered with love and so wonderfully terrifying, intimate and magical.—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir Searing and soothing, honest and elusive, Every Bone a Prayer is a gift. It's the pure truth, told slant.—Alix E. Harrow, author of The Once and Future Witches
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Confessions of a Wall Street Insider Michael Kimelman, 2017-03-28 Although he was a suburban husband and father, living a far different life than the “Wolf of Wall Street,” Michael Kimelman had a good run as the cofounder of a hedge fund. He had left a cushy yet suffocating job at a law firm to try his hand at the high-risk life of a proprietary trader — and he did pretty well for himself. But it all came crashing down in the wee hours of November 5, 2009, when the Feds came to his door—almost taking the door off its hinges. While his wife and children were sequestered to a bedroom, Kimelman was marched off in embarrassment in view of his neighbors and TV crews who had been alerted in advance. He was arrested as part of a huge insider trading case, and while he was offered a “sweetheart” no-jail probation plea, he refused, maintaining his innocence. The lion’s share of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider was written while Kimelman was an inmate at Lewisburg Penitentiary. In nearly two years behind bars, he reflected on his experiences before incarceration—rubbing elbows and throwing back far too many cocktails with financial titans and major figures in sports and entertainment (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Alex Rodriguez, Ben Bernanke, and Alan Greenspan, to drop a few names); making and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily gambles on the Street; getting involved with the wrong people, who eventually turned on him; realizing that none of that mattered in the end. As he writes: “Stripped of family, friends, time, and humanity, if there’s ever a place to give one pause, it’s prison . . . Tomorrow is promised to no one.” In Confessions of a Wall Street Insider, he reveals the triumphs, pains, and struggles, and how, in the end, it just might have made him a better person. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: A Famished Heart Nicola White, 2020-02-27 'A fabulous closed-room mystery that will keep you guessing' - DENISE MINA 'Fabulous Dublin-based crime. Very much in the vein of Tana French' - JO SPAIN 'This creeps up on you until you're hooked' - HEAT THEY DID IT TO THEMSELVES BUT SOMEONE WAS WATCHING The Macnamara sisters hadn't been seen for months before anyone noticed. It was Father Timoney who finally broke down the door, who saw what had become of them. Berenice was sitting in her armchair, surrounded by religious tracts. Rosaleen had crawled under her own bed, her face frozen in terror. Both had starved themselves to death. Francesca Macnamara returns to Dublin after decades in the US to find her family in ruins. Meanwhile, Detectives Vincent Swan and Gina Considine are convinced that there is more to the deaths than suicide. Because what little evidence there is, shows that someone was watching the sisters die... A compelling mystery that will keep you reading late into the night, perfect for readers of Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Tana French and Jo Spain. SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB STAR PICK AN IRISH TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A terrific new gem of Irish noir, written with a light touch' - SUNDAY TIMES 'Sombre, psychological nuanced and compassionate... gripping' - IRISH TIMES 'Intriguing, compelling and highly entertaining. Formidably impressive' - LIZ NUGENT 'Thrilling... will keep you guessing until the very end' - MY WEEKLY 'Infused with depth, darkness and acute psychological drama' - HERALD
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: I Remember You Yrsa Sigurdardottir, 2014-03-25 International superstar Yrsa Sigurdardottir has captivated the attention of readers around the world with her mystery series featuring attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir. Now, with I Remember You, Yrsa will stun readers once again with this out-of-this-world ghost story that will leave you shivering. In an isolated village in the Icelandic Westfjords, three friends set to work renovating a rundown house. But soon, they realize they are not as alone as they thought. Something wants them to leave, and it's making its presence felt. Meanwhile, in a town across the fjord, a young doctor investigating the suicide of an elderly woman discovers that she was obsessed with his vanished son. When the two stories collide, the terrifying truth is uncovered. In the vein of Stephen King and John Ajvide Lindqvist, this horrifying thriller, partly based on a true story, is the scariest novel yet from Yrsa Sigurdardottir, who has taken the international crime fiction world by storm. I Remember You won the Icelandic Crime Fiction Award and also was nominated for The Glass Key Award.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Closed Circle Jonathan Coe, 2007-12-18 The characters of The Rotters’ Club–Jonathan Coe’s beloved novel of adolescent life in the 1970s–have bartered their innocence for the vengeance of middle age in this incisive portrait of Cool Britannia at the millennium.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: A Crooked Tree Una Mannion, 2021-01-05 This “meticulously plotted” novel explores “the mysteries of dysfunctional families . . . and adolescents’ imperfect . . . understanding of the world of adults” (Sarah Lyall The New York Times Book Review). “The night we left Ellen on the road, we drove up the mountain in silence.” It is the early 1980s and fifteen-year-old Libby is obsessed with The Field Guide to the Trees of North America, a gift her Irish immigrant father gave her before he died. She finds solace in “The Kingdom,” a stand of red oak and thick mountain laurel near her home in suburban Pennsylvania, where she can escape from her large and unruly family and share menthol cigarettes and lukewarm beers with her best friend. One night, while driving home, Libby’s mother, exhausted and overwhelmed with the fighting in the backseat, pulls over and orders Libby’s little sister Ellen to walk home. What none of this family knows as they drive off leaving a twelve-year-old girl on the side of the road five miles from home with darkness closing in, is what will happen next. A Crooked Tree is a surprising, indelible novel, both a poignant portrayal of an unmoored childhood giving way to adolescence, and a gripping tale about the unexpected reverberations of one rash act. “Beautifully written with tenderness and wisdom.” — Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine “Suspenseful, affecting, and disarmingly evocative of childhood and the not-so-distant era of the 1980s.” —Kirkus Reviews “Filled with pathos, nostalgia, and the best kind of suspense..” — Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River “Completely entrancing.” —Julia Pierpont, New York Times–bestselling author of Among the Ten Thousand Things
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: If the Creek Don't Rise Leah Weiss, 2017-08-22 An immersive and deeply emotional reading experience—especially satisfying for readers who love richly drawn characters and a strong sense of place —NPR He's gonna be sorry he ever messed with me and Loretta Lynn. Sadie Blue has been a wife for fifteen days. That's long enough to know she should have never hitched herself to Roy Tupkin, even with the baby. Sadie is desperate to make her own mark on the world, but in remote Appalachia, a ticket out of town is hard to come by and hope often gets stomped out. When a stranger sweeps into Baines Creek and knocks things off kilter, Sadie finds herself with an unexpected lifeline...if she can just figure out how to use it. Fans of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek will love this intimate insight into a fiercely proud, tenacious community and relish the voices of the forgotten folks of Baines Creek. With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don't Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit. Like all great southern writers, Leah Weiss's magic turns the local into the universal. —Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author, on All The Little Hopes
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Flat Broke with Two Goats Jennifer McGaha, 2018-01-23 When life gets your goat, bring in the herd Jennifer McGaha never expected to own a goat named Merle. Or to be setting Merle up on dates and naming his doeling Merlene. She didn't expect to be buying organic yogurt for her chickens. She never thought she would be pulling camouflage carpet off her ceiling or rescuing opossums from her barn and calling it date night. Most importantly, Jennifer never thought she would only have $4.57 in her bank account. When Jennifer discovered that she and her husband owed back taxes—a lot of back taxes—her world changed. Now desperate to save money, they foreclosed on their beloved suburban home and moved their family to a one-hundred-year-old cabin in a North Carolina holler. Soon enough, Jennifer's life began to more closely resemble her Appalachian ancestors than her upper-middle-class upbringing. But what started as a last-ditch effort to settle debts became a journey that revealed both the joys and challenges of living close to the land. Told with bold wit, unflinching honesty, and a firm foot in the traditions of Appalachia, Flat Broke with Two Goats blends stories of homesteading with the journey of two people rediscovering the true meaning of home.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen Sarah Bird, 2018-09-04 You'll be swept away by the passion and power of this remarkable, trailblazing woman who risked everything to follow her own heart. – Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author An epic page-turner. – Christina Baker Kline Named Best Fiction Writer in the Austin Chronicle's Austin's Best 2018 Named one of Lone Star Literary Life's Top 20 Texas Books of 2018 The compelling, hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the only woman to ever serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers. “Here’s the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen and my mama never let me forget it.” Though born into bondage on a “miserable tobacco farm” in Little Dixie, Missouri, Cathy Williams was never allowed to consider herself a slave. According to her mother, she was a captive, destined by her noble warrior blood to escape the enemy. Her chance at freedom presents itself with the arrival of Union general Phillip Henry “Smash ‘em Up” Sheridan, the outcast of West Point who takes the rawboned, prideful young woman into service. At war’s end, having tasted freedom, Cathy refuses to return to servitude and makes the monumental decision to disguise herself as a man and join the Army’s legendary Buffalo Soldiers. Alone now in the ultimate man’s world, Cathy must fight not only for her survival and freedom, but she also vows to never give up on finding her mother, her little sister, and the love of the only man strong enough to win her heart. Inspired by the stunning, true story of Private Williams, this American heroine comes to vivid life in a sweeping and magnificent tale about one woman’s fight for freedom, respect and independence.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: More Than We Can Tell Brigid Kemmerer, 2018-03-08 NOMINATED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 'Swoon-inducing' - Irish Times From the author of the New York Times bestselling Cursebreakers series comes an intense and gripping love story about learning to be fearless and set your secrets free. Rev works hard to keep the demons of the time before his adoption at bay ... until a letter from his father after his 18th birthday brings the trauma of his childhood hurtling back. Emma escapes real life by perfecting the online game she built from scratch. But when an online troll's harassment starts to escalate, she fears for her safety. When Rev and Emma meet, they're buckling under the weight of their secrets. Though both of them find it hard to put their problems into words, they connect instantly and deeply. Rev and Emma's problems might be worlds apart, but they promise to help each other no matter what. But promises are made to be tested and some things hurt more than we can tell. Smart, funny and romantic, this is a must-read love story from the author of the bestselling Cursebreakers series.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: It's Not About the Burqa Mariam Khan, 2019-02-21 It's Not About the Burqa is an anthology of frank and insightful essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience. 'Passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the ‘traditional submissiveness’ of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn’t know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were neither Muslim, nor female? Years later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women’s voices are still pushed to the fringes – the figures leading the discussion are white and male. Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It’s Not About the Burqa is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won’t see represented in the national news headlines: seventeen Muslim women speaking frankly about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about feminism, queer identity, sex, and the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country. With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia. What does it mean, exactly, to be a Muslim woman in the West today? According to the media, it’s all about the burqa. Here’s what it’s really about. Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year 'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Friend (National Book Award Winner) Sigrid Nunez, 2018-02-06 WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING NAOMI WATTS “A beautiful book . . . a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love.” —Wall Street Journal “A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory . . . Nunez has a wry, withering wit.” —NPR “Dry, allusive and charming . . . the comedy here writes itself.” —The New York Times The New York Times bestselling story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them. Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Opposite of Loneliness Marina Keegan, 2014 An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world's attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation. Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. As her family, friends, and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her deeply affecting last essay for The Yale Daily News, The Opposite of Loneliness, went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. Even though she was just twenty-two years old when she died, Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, capture the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story, Cold Pastoral, was published in NewYorker.com just months after her death. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assemblage of Marina's essays and stories, which, like The Last Lecture, articulate the universal struggle that all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be, and how we harness our talents to impact the world--
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: To Be a Man Nicole Krauss, 2020-11-03 “A sustained shot of brilliance” (Boston Globe)—ten globetrotting stories exploring the complex relationships between men and women. A Best Book/Short Story Collection of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine, Financial Times, Esquire, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, Library Journal New York Times Editors’ Choice Nicole Krauss plunges fearlessly into the struggle to understand men and women and the tensions that have existed in all relationships from the beginning of time. Set in our contemporary moment and moving across the globe from Switzerland, Japan, and New York City to Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, and an unnamed country in South America, the stories in To Be a Man feature men as fathers, lovers, friends, children, seducers, and even a lost husband who may never have been a husband at all. The way these stories mirror one another and resonate is beautiful, with a balance so finely tuned that the book almost feels like a novel. Echoes ring through stages of life: aging parents and newborn babies; young women’s coming-of-age and the newfound, somewhat bewildering sexual power that accompanies it; generational gaps and unexpected deliveries of strange new leases on life; mystery and wonder at a life lived or a future waiting to unfold. With a fierce, unwavering light To Be a Man illuminates the forces driving human existence: sex, power, violence, passion, self-discovery, aging. Profound, poignant, and brilliant, Krauss’s stories, at once startling and deeply moving, are always revealing of all-too-human weakness and strength. “Superb. . . . Krauss’s depictions of the nuances of sex and love, intimacy and dependence, call to mind the work of Natalia Ginzburg. . . . Krauss’s stories capture characters at moments in their lives when they’re hungry for experience and open to possibilities, and that openness extends to the stories themselves: narratives too urgent and alive for neat plotlines, simplistic resolutions or easy answers.” —Molly Antopol, New York Times Book Review ”From a contemporary master, an astounding collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women. . . . Each story is masterfully crafted and deeply contemplative, barreling toward a shimmering, inevitable conclusion, proving once again that Krauss is one of our most formidable talents in fiction.” —Esquire
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Her Last Flight Beatriz Williams, 2020-06-30 One of Summer’s Most Anticipated Reads, according to Goodreads, SheReads, and Bookish “I think Beatriz Williams is writing the best historical fiction out there. It’s lush with period detail but feels immediate.”—Elin Hilderbrand The beloved author returns with a remarkable novel of both raw suspense and lyric beauty— the story of a lost pilot and a wartime photographer that will leave its mark on your soul. In 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a remote surfing village on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to research a planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned. Obsessed with Sam’s fate, Janey has tracked down Irene Lindquist, the owner of a local island-hopping airline, whom she believes might actually be the legendary Irene Foster, Mallory’s onetime student and flying partner. Foster’s disappearance during a round-the-world flight in 1937 remains one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries. At first, the flinty Mrs. Lindquist denies any connection to Foster. But Janey informs her that the wreck of Sam Mallory’s airplane has recently been discovered in a Spanish desert, and piece by piece, the details of Foster’s extraordinary life emerge: from the beginnings of her flying career in Southern California, to her complicated, passionate relationship with Mallory, to the collapse of her marriage to her aggressive career manager, the publishing scion George Morrow. As Irene spins her tale to its searing conclusion, Janey’s past gathers its own power. The duel between the two women takes a heartstopping turn. To whom does Mallory rightfully belong? Can we ever come to terms with the loss of those we love, and the lives we might have lived?
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Gathering Anne Enright, 2011 The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968. His sister Veronica was there then, as she is now: keeping the dead man company, just for another little while. The Gathering is a family epic, condensed and clarified through the remarkable lens of Anne Enright's unblinking eye. It is also a sexual history: tracing the line of hurt and redemption through three generations - starting with the grandmother, Ada Merriman - showing how memories warp and family secrets fester. This is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Big Bad Love Larry Brown, 1990-09-30 Larry Brown writes like a force of nature.—Pat Conroy Larry Brown caught the rapt attention of readers and critics with the 1988 publication of Facing the Music, his prize-winning first collection of stories. The following year, his first novel, Dirty Work, won national acclaim as a work of uncompromising power and honesty. Big Bad Love, his third book, collects ten new stories. Dealing with sex, with drink, with fear, with all kinds of bad luck and obsession, these stories are unflinching and not for the fainthearted. But as is true of all of Brown's fiction, these ten stories are linked in a collective statement of redemption and hope. These stories come as close to the truth as any human expression can.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Things You Would Know If You Grew Up Around Here Nancy Wayson Dinan, 2020-05-19 Set during the devastating Memorial Day floods in Texas, a surreal, empathetic novel for readers of Station Eleven and The Age of Miracles. 2015. 18-year-old Boyd Montgomery returns from her grandfather's wedding to find her friend Isaac missing. Drought-ravaged central Texas has been newly inundated with rain, and flash floods across the state have begun to sweep away people, cars, and entire houses as every river breaks its banks. In the midst of the rising waters, Boyd sets out across the ravaged back country. She is determined to rescue her missing friend, and she's not alone in her quest: her neighbor, Carla, spots Boyd's boot prints leading away from the safety of home and follows in her path. Hours later, her mother returns to find Boyd missing, and she, too, joins the search. Boyd, Carla, and Lucy Maud know the land well. They've lived in central Texas for their entire lives. But they have no way of knowing the fissure the storm has opened along the back roads, no way of knowing what has been erased-and what has resurfaced. As they each travel through the newly unfamiliar landscape, they discover the ghosts of Texas past and present. Haunting and timely, Things You Would Know if You Grew Up Around Here considers questions of history and empathy and brings a pre-apocalyptic landscape both foreign and familiar to shockingly vivid life.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: A Star Called Henry Roddy Doyle, 2004-10-05 Roddy Doyle’s acclaimed novel about an intrepid Irishman’s years of reckless heroism and adventure – “An extraordinarily entertaining epic.” (The Washington Post) Born at the beginning of the twentieth century, Henry Smart lives through the evolution of modern Ireland, and in this extraordinary novel he brilliantly tells his story. From his own birth and childhood on the streets of Dublin to his role as soldier (and lover) in the Irish Rebellion, Henry recounts his early years of reckless heroism and adventure. At once an epic, a love story, and a portrait of Irish history, A Star Called Henry is a grand picaresque novel brimming with both poignant moments and comic ones, and told in a voice that is both quintessentially Irish and inimitably Roddy Doyle's.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Miss Silver Comes to Stay Patricia Wentworth, 2011-07-26 Governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver, who “has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot,” visits a small village hiding big secrets (Manchester Evening News). The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary. Some might even consider them boring, but not Miss Maud Silver. It’s been some years since she gave up work as a governess to become a detective, and her fascination with people has served her well during that time. Now, she’s come to Melling to pay a long-postponed visit to an old school chum—but Miss Silver’s vacations never last long. The town’s prodigal son has returned, wealthy and not exactly nostalgic for his hometown. He intends to sell his manor house and be done with Melling forever. But this cozy English hamlet hasn’t finished with him yet . . .
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Zorrie Laird Hunt, 2021-11-11 Finalist for the 2021 National Book Award (Fiction) It was Indiana, it was the dirt she had bloomed up out of, it was who she was, what she felt, how she thought, what she knew. As a girl, Zorrie Underwood's modest and hardscrabble home county was the only constant in her young life. After losing both her parents, Zorrie moved in with her aunt, whose own death orphaned Zorrie all over again, casting her off into the perilous realities and sublime landscapes of rural, Depression-era Indiana. Drifting west, Zorrie survived on odd jobs, sleeping in barns and under the stars, before finding a position at a radium processing plant. At the end of each day, the girls at her factory glowed from the radioactive material. But when Indiana calls Zorrie home, she finally finds the love and community that have eluded her in and around the small town of Hillisburg. And yet, even as she tries to build a new life, Zorrie discovers that her trials have only begun. Spanning an entire lifetime, a life convulsed and transformed by the events of the 20th century, Laird Hunt's extraordinary novel offers a profound and intimate portrait of the dreams that propel one tenacious woman onward and the losses that she cannot outrun. Set against a harsh, gorgeous, quintessentially American landscape, this is a deeply empathetic and poetic novel that belongs on a shelf with the classics of Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson, and Elizabeth Strout.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Cruelty Men Emer Martin, 2018 This book is a sweeping multi-generational view of an Irish-speaking family who moved from Kerry to the Meath Gaeltacht and the disasters that befall their children in Irish institutions.-- Publisher's web site.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary Catherine Gray, 2019-12-26 FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'Life-affirming' - THE TELEGRAPH 'Wonderful' - INDEPENDENT 'She made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled' - RADIO 4 - WOMAN'S HOUR 'Take a leaf out of Gray's book and be kinder to yourself by appreciating life just as it is' - IRISH TIMES 'This book came to me in an hour of need - during lockdown when I had to focus on the positive, appreciate simple things, not lose my shit, and value each day. It was a pure joy for me and held my hand' - SADIE FROST 'Interesting and joyful. Lights a path that could help us to build resilience against society's urging to compare life milestones with peers' - LANCET PSYCHIATRY Underwhelmed by your ordinary existence? Disillusioned with your middlin' wage, average body, 'bijou' living situation and imperfect loved ones? Welcome to the club. There are billions of us. The 'default disenchanted'. But, it's not us being brats. Two deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenons conspire against our satisfaction. We have negatively-biased brains, which zoom like doom-drones in on what's wrong with our day, rather than what's right. (Back in the mists of time, this negative bias saved our skins, but now it just makes us anxious). Also, something called the 'hedonic treadmill' means we eternally quest for better, faster, more, like someone stuck on a dystopian, never-ending treadmill. Thankfully, there are scientifically-proven ways in which we can train our brains to be more positive-seeking. And to take a rest from this tireless pursuit. Whew. Catherine Gray knits together illuminating science and hilarious storytelling, unveiling captivating research showing that big bucks don't mean big happiness, extraordinary experiences have a 'comedown' and budget weddings predict a lower chance of divorce. She reminds us what an average body actually is, reveals that exercising for weight loss means we do less exercise, and explores the modern tendency to not just try to keep up with the Murphys, but keep up with the Mega-Murphies (see: the social media elite). Come on in to this soulful and life-affirming read, to discover why an ordinary life may well be the most satisfying one of all.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually Helen Cullen, 2020-08-20 THE IMMERSIVE AND HEARTFELT EXPLORATION OF FAMILY AND LOVE 'A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families. Tears were shed!' GRAHAM NORTON 'A moving and powerful novel' JOHN BOYNE 'Human, graceful and healing, a true gift of a novel' SEBASTIAN BARRY 'A beautiful story' SARAH WINMAN 'Lyrical, optimistic and redemptive' CLARE CHAMBERS 'Just loved it . . . so moving on motherhood, depression, family ties and Ireland' ANNIE MACMANUS On an island off the west coast of Ireland, the Moone family gathers. Maeve is an actor, struggling with her most challenging role yet - as a mother to four children. Murtagh, her devoted husband, is a potter whose craft brought them from the city to this rural life. In the wake of one fateful night, the Moone siblings must learn the story of who their parents truly are, and what has happened since their first meeting, years before, outside Trinity College in Dublin. We watch as one love story gives rise to another, until we arrive at a future that none of the Moones could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself. The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually is a celebration of the complex, flawed and stubbornly optimistic human heart. Longlisted for the Guardian's 'Not The Booker' prize PRAISE FOR THE TRUTH MUST DAZZLE GRADUALLY: 'I devoured this, falling in love with the setting and with every character. It is just glorious. A close-up on the everyday beautiful details that make up love' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths 'Intensely moving, beautifully written and drenched with Irish atmosphere, this novel asks brave and thoughtful questions about mental health' Daily Mail 'Loved it. Beautiful and original' Sunday Independent 'Cullen is a thoughtful writer and she dissects the stubborn optimism of the human heart with skill and sympathy' Irish Independent 'A perfect combination of deeply-felt tragedy with great hopefulness' Anne Youngson, author of Meet me at the Museum 'Masterfully constructed. A book of rare quality' i Paper 'A beautifully observed saga of abandoned dreams, loss and self-discovery. A fabulous creation' Alan McGonagle, author of Ithaca 'So wonderful on the Irish family and the utter complexity of motherhood, family entanglement and love. I was full on weeping at the end' Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Crossing to Safety Wallace Stegner, 2013-10-03 A novel of the friendships and woes of two couples, which tells the story of their lives in lyrical, evocative prose by one of the finest American writers of the late 20th century. When two young couples meet for the first time during the Great Depression, they quickly find they have much in common: Charity Lang and Sally Morgan are both pregnant, while their husbands Sid and Larry both have jobs in the English department at the University of Wisconsin. Immediately a lifelong friendship is born, which becomes increasingly complex as they share decades of love, loyalty, vulnerability and conflict. Written from the perspective of the aging Larry Morgan,Crossing to Safety is a beautiful and deeply moving exploration of the struggle of four people to come to terms with the trials and tragedies of everyday life. With an introduction by Jane Smiley.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Writers & Lovers Lily King, 2020-03-03 An extraordinary new novel of art, love and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times–bestselling author of Euphoria, which sold over 400,000 copies in North America. Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman. Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, mouldy room at the side of a garage, where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching on to something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink. Writers & Lovers follows Casey—a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist—in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis.Written with King’s trademark humour, heart and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Summary Review and Discussion of What You Did by Claire Mcgowan Quick Read Publishing, 2020-05-31 Book Summary What You Did This companion summarizes and critically analyzes Claire Mcgowan's novel and the instant bestseller What You Did, A reunion between groups of old friends turns ugly when one woman accuses her best friend's husband of rape. The friends have to navigate their views on sexual consent and personal loyalty as they deal with the emotional and legal fallout of the accusation. The incident also brings back memories of a girl they had known at university, who had been murdered at a party on their last night at Oxford. Quick Read Publishing has created a quick overview summary and Review companion book for your reading pleasure. Designed to enhance your reading experience. What does this Summary Include? Each Part wise Chapter of the original book Chapter by Chapter Summaries About the Author List of Characters Underlining Themes of the book Key Point from Claire Mcgowan's book Discussion Questions about the Plot Background information about What You Did Background information about the Claire Mcgowan We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Read this summary book to save time , to learn more read What You Did
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Записи разных лет , 1975
  claire keegan small things like these book club questions: Circling the Sun: a Novel by Paula Mclain (Trivia-On-Books) Trivion Books, 2015-12-16 Trivia-on-Book: Circling the Sun: A Novel by Paula McLain You may have read the book, but not have liked it. You may have liked the book, but not be a fan. You may call yourself a fan, but few truly are. Are you? Trivia-on-Books is an independently curated trivia quiz on the book for readers, students, and fans alike. Whether you're looking for new materials to the book or would like to take the challenge yourself and share it with your friends and family for a time of fun, Trivia-on-Books provides a unique approach that is both insightful and educational...