![]() ![]() While Dickens uses his story to challenge the unequal distribution of wealth in Victorian society, his message nevertheless reinforces patriarchal values by celebrating the male-centric and materialist aspects of Christmas, rather than its spiritual elements. In a note at the end, she reminds readers how an estimated 10,000. These institutions, Keegan reminds us, were run by the Catholic Church in collusion with the Irish State. Small Things Like These can be read as a feminist revision of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - to which the novel explicitly alludes. For all her earlier accolades, Small Things Like These, Keegan’s first novel, enters the world this month with the shocking force of a debut. Small Things Like These is a fictional work that meditates on a grimy chapter of Ireland’s recent past Ireland’s last Magdalene laundry only closed its doors in 1996. While the vise-like rhythm of daily life threatens to suffocate his spirit, it also hints at the deep loss he would suffer if stability is renounced. The heartwarming tableau of his wife and daughters making mince pies for Christmas nevertheless makes Bill wonder if the daily grind of providing for his family is all there is to life. ![]() ![]() Like the Catholic parish that presides as a monolith over the town of New Ross in 1985 Ireland, Bill's social background reflects both salvation and oppression.Īs a perpetual outsider, Bill senses danger in rituals that others take for granted, and aches for his youngest daughter when she becomes frightened by a "big, fat Santa," like the Pied Piper luring a horde of children toward a cave of shiny presents during the town's holiday parade. ![]()
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