In families where there were too many children and not enough food, a child might be given to relatives who had none. And, it’s an interesting question, revealing a part of little-known Ireland. How does a child return home to family after discovering a family that actually wants her? Keegan’s moving story provides no answers. But, a neighbor reveals there is a story her aunt and uncle never revealed. There is also a secret, although her aunt tells her there are no secrets in the house, because secrets mean shame. And, there’s more food for a growing girl. There’s time for her to race to the mailbox, to spend time learning to read better. With no children in the household, the narrator finds it a totally different life where she doesn’t have to work all day, except to help her aunt. There, John and Edna Kinsella welcome her into their home.
There’s little money to support all the children, and the mother is pregnant again, so the narrator’s father drives her across Ireland to Wexford, where her mother’s family lives. She’s the daughter of a hardworking woman, who is often pregnant, and a father who seems to gamble or drink away profits, and often lies. Keegan, the author of Small Things Like These, a Booker Award nominee, takes us into one short summer in the life of the unnamed narrator. If you don’t want to read my review, check out Alexandra Alter’s article in The New York Times.
I’m not the only one impressed with Claire Keegan’s spare, beautifully written novels.
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