You sense that a great deal of thinking has been done in preparation for the writing, with the result that each sentence matters, and each, sometimes very ordinary, action has real consequences. Or by our own Henry James in “The Beast in the Jungle.” The need to tell something longer than can be encapsulated in a short story has led Keegan to slow down. It may be because she has found a new form: the long short story in the tradition of “The Dead” by James Joyce or “Nights at the Alexandra” by William Trevor. For me, her work seems more universal and her vision both wider and deeper.
In her 50s, she stands out among her contemporary compatriots who may be better known, such as Roddy Doyle or Maggie O’Farrell or Sally Rooney or Mary Costello. I had read an earlier book of stories - Antarctica - which showed talent but at times seemed contrived and often rushed. I had much the same feeling when reading these two new books by the Irish writer Claire Keegan. For example, in Virginia Woolf’s first two novels we saw that she knew how to write a novel, but there are few clues in that prose that she would become the writer of genius she was in Jacob’s Room and Mrs. One of the most fascinating things about being a critic is watching how a writer matures. Two by Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These, Grove Press, 118 pages, $20. In Claire Keegan’s fiction, each sentence matters, and each, sometimes very ordinary, action has real consequences.
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