Новинки Клэр Киган

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 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.

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.

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, not 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. But in a house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers how fragile her idyll is.

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household--where everything is so well tended to--and this summer must soon come to an end.

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 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.

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.

The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.

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. Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.

В оповіданні подана історія маленької дівчинки, яку тимчасово відправляють жити в сім’ю ірландських фермерів. Дівчинка не знає, коли зможе повернутися додому, але тим часом серед цих незнайомих людей вона знаходить теплоту й турботу, якої в неї ніколи не було. Під їхнім доглядом дитина відчуває себе неймовірно щасливою, аж поки не відкривається неочікувана таємниця… 7 коротких частин подають незабутній погляд на світ дитячими очима. Оповідання має драматичний сюжет. Це емоційно напружена історія, що відбувається в незвичному світі повному невинності. Особливого акценту оповіданню надають справді сильні діалоги, якими славиться Клер Кіґан.

В оповіданні подана історія маленької дівчинки, яку тимчасово відправляють жити в сім’ю ірландських фермерів. Дівчинка не знає, коли зможе повернутися додому, але тим часом серед цих незнайомих людей вона знаходить теплоту й турботу, якої в неї ніколи не було. Під їхнім доглядом дитина відчуває себе неймовірно щасливою, аж поки не відкривається неочікувана таємниця… 7 коротких частин подають незабутній погляд на світ дитячими очима. Оповідання має драматичний сюжет. Це емоційно напружена історія, що відбувається в незвичному світі повному невинності. Особливого акценту оповіданню надають справді сильні діалоги, якими славиться Клер Кіґан.

Presented here is a debut collection of short stories set in Ireland and the Deep South of America. They reveal lives where dreams, memory and chance can lead to horrifying consequences; worlds where obsession and dark tensions seethe just beneath the surface.

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household--where everything is so well tended to--and this summer must soon come to an end.

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.

Published to great critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, the iridescent stories in Claire Keegan's debut collection, Antarctica, have been acclaimed by The Observer to be "among the finest contemporary stories written recently in English." In "Antarctica," a married woman travels out of town to see what it's like to sleep with a man other than her husband. "Love in the Tall Grass" takes Cordelia down a coastal road on the last day of the twentieth century to keep a date with her lover that has been nine years in the waiting. "Stay Close to the Water's Edge" tells of a young Harvard student who is pitilessly humiliated by his homophobic stepfather on his birthday. Keegan's writing has a clear vision of unaffected truths and boldly explores a world where dreams, memory, and chance have crippling consequences for those involved. The stories are often dark and enveloped in a palpable atmosphere, and the reader feels that something "big" is going on in each of these carefully sculpted tales. The award-winning Antarctica, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, and recipient of the prestigious Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the William Trevor Prize, and the Martin Healy Award, is a haunting debut. "These stories are diamonds." — Emily Robichaud, Esquire "That Keegan has a knack for storytelling is proved many times over...." — Caitlin Macy, The New York Times Book Review "[These] stories ... show Keegan to be an authentic talent with a gimlet eye and a distinctive voice." — Amanda Heller, The Boston Globe "Reading these stories is like coming upon work of Ann Beattie or Raymond Carver at the start of their careers." — Jerry Griswold, Los Angeles Times

Qué quietud había ahí arriba, pero ¿por qué nunca estaba en paz? El día aún no despuntaba, y Furlong miró hacia el río oscuro y brillante cuya superficie reflejaba partes equivalentes del pueblo iluminado. Eran tantas las cosas que se veían mejor, cuando no estaban tan cerca. No pudo decir cuál prefería; si la vista del pueblo o su reflejo en el agua.

Invierno de 1985 en un pequeño pueblo irlandés. Bill Furlong es un hombre amable y un trabajador infatigable, vende carbón y madera. Su única preocupación es que a su esposa y a sus cinco hijas no les falte nada. Lleva una vida tranquila y rutinaria, hasta que un día, mientras entrega un pedido en el convento del pueblo, se involucra en una situación que le devuelve otra imagen de su pasado, dejándolo en medio de una encrucijada definitiva: por un lado, seguir su instinto de autopreservación y mirar hacia abajo, por el otro, actuar con coraje y hacer lo correcto, sin importar las consecuencias.

Claire Keegan, una de las voces más potentes de la literatura irlandesa contemporánea, se detiene con perspicacia en esas pequeñas cosas que hacen la diferencia y construye una novela de una delicadeza conmovedora.