Новинки Клэр Киган

Wer etwas auf sich hält in New Ross, County Wicklow, und es sich leisten kann, lässt seine Wäsche im Kloster waschen. Doch was sich dort hinter den glänzenden Fenstern und dicken Mauern ereignet, will in der Kleinstadt niemand so genau wissen. Denn es gibt Gerüchte. Dass es moralisch fragwürdige Mädchen sind, die zur Buße Schmutzflecken aus den Laken waschen. Dass…

Ambientado na Irlanda, em 1985, a história de Pequenas coisas como estas gira em torno de Bill Furlong, um respeitável comerciante de carvão e madeira, filho de uma mãe solteira, que leva uma vida simples com a família. Durante o período de Natal, ele faz uma descoberta perturbadora sobre um convento local e as jovens mulheres que ali vivem. A revelação obriga Bill a enfrentar as consequências morais e sociais de suas ações em uma comunidade profundamente marcada pela influência da Igreja Católica e seus silêncios.

Segundo o jornal The New York Times, que incluiu o romance em sua lista de 100 melhores romances do século,
“Nenhuma palavra é desperdiçada na pequena e polida joia de romance de Keegan, uma espécie de miniatura dickensiana centrada no filho de uma mãe solteira que cresceu e se tornou um respeitável comerciante de carvão e madeira com uma família própria na Irlanda de 1985. Moralmente, porém, poderia muito bem ser a Idade Média enquanto ele se depara com os crimes contínuos da Igreja Católica e as tragédias cotidianas causadas pela repressão, medo e hipocrisia grosseira.”

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. Already an…

Podmanivý příběh nominovaný na prestižní Man Bookerovu cenu 2022 lze číst jako báji o dobru a zlu nebo podobenství o laskavosti. Přivádí nás do irského města poloviny osmdesátých let sužovaného prosincovými mrazy a vrcholí na Štědrý den, kdy skutečným zázrakem je tiché hrdinství a odvaha jednoho obyčejného muže.
V předvánočních týdnech čeká Billa Furlonga, obchodníka s uhlím a dřevem, nejrušnější období. Furlong ví, jak snadné je přijít o všechno, a jako otec pěti nezletilých dcer je odhodlaný tvrdě pracovat se sklopenou hlavou, aby si nenadělal nepřátele a mohl sledovat, jak všechny jeho děti dostudují na jediné dobré dívčí škole ve městě.
Mezi Furlongovy klienty patří místní klášter spravovaný jeptiškami, provozujícími také prádelnu. O klášteru se vedou různé řeči, krom jiného že jsou tam zavřené padlé dívky, které se mají napravit. Furlong ničemu z toho věřit nechce, ovšem jednou večer dorazí do kláštera s nákladem o hodně dřív, než ho čekali, a odhalí temné tajemství. Když o chvíli později zabloudí v mlze a ptá se staříka na cestu, dostane se mu symbolické odpovědi: „Tahle cesta vede tam, kam chceš jít, chlapče.“

A triptych of stories about love, lust, betrayal, misogyny, and the ever-intriguing interchanges between women and men. Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, Claire Keegan now gifts us three exquisite stories, newly revised and expanded, together forming a brilliant examination of gender dynamics and an arc from Keegan’s earliest to her most recent work.

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan is the long awaited second collection from the Booker-shortlisted author of Small Things Like These.
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 story, a priest waits on the altar for a bride and battles, all that wedding day, with his memories of a love affair. In her long-awaited second collection, Claire Keegan observes an Ireland wrestling with its past.

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.
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.
Claire Keegan’s mesmeric story takes us into the heart of the Wicklow countryside, and of the farming family of Victor Deegan, with his ‘three teenagers, the milking and the mortgage’.
When Deegan finds a gun dog and gives it as a present to his only daughter, his wife is filled with foreboding at this seeming act of kindness. As the seasons pass, long-buried family secrets threaten to emerge.
Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him — and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

On 1985. aasta Iirimaa väikelinnas. Jõulueelsed nädalad on söekaupmehest pereisale Bill Furlongile aasta kõige kiirem aeg. Ühel varahommikul kohalikku nunnakloostrisse sütt viies avastab Furlong midagi, mis sunnib teda silma vaatama nii oma minevikule kui kiriku meelevallas elava linna kaassüüdlaslikule vaikimisele.