Literary fiction · Book club
Small Things Like These book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Small Things Like These is a novella set in the Irish town of New Ross in 1985.
Claire Keegan · 2021 · 2h 20m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
New Ross as a town knows, in some form, what the convent is. How does Keegan render that collective not-knowing, and does it feel like a fair portrait of how communities process uncomfortable knowledge?
- 2.
Bill Furlong is a good man by conventional measure — hardworking, kind to his family, charitable in small ways. What prevents that kind of goodness from translating into action earlier?
- 3.
The novella is set at Christmas, a season associated in Irish Catholic culture with specific religious meaning. How does Keegan use that setting without becoming heavy-handed?
- 4.
Keegan gives us very little of what the young woman Bill finds in the coal shed is thinking or feeling. Is that restraint appropriate, or does it risk making her an object rather than a subject?
- 5.
Bill's wife warns him off acting. Is she a villain in the novel, or a realist? How does the book frame her position?
- 6.
The Church in this novel is not portrayed as cartoonishly evil — the nuns are described with some humanity. Is that the right choice for a story about institutional abuse?
- 7.
What does Bill ultimately risk by acting? How does the novella calibrate that risk — does it feel proportionate to what he discovers?
- 8.
Keegan's prose strips away almost everything that most novels include — interiority, elaboration, backstory. Does the formal economy work for you, or does the restraint make it hard to connect?
- 9.
The title is understated. What are the 'small things' the title refers to? Is the irony gentle or bitter?
- 10.
The novella has been compared to Chekhov in its compression. Can you think of a moment in the text that carries an amount of meaning disproportionate to its length?
- 11.
This novella was adapted into a 2022 film. What would adaptation gain and lose given the story's formal economy?
- 12.
What does the ending ask of you as a reader? Does it feel resolved or open?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Small Things Like These?
Here are 12 book club questions for Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on moral courage, complicity and silence, community and conformity.
How long should a book club discussion of Small Things Like These last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Small Things Like These?
Moral courage, Complicity and silence, Community and conformity, The Catholic Church in Ireland, Fatherhood and conscience. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Small Things Like These or questions for other book club picks.
