Cathal is one of those blokes a friend might go out with and say, you know, he’s OK. He’s got a job, not bad looking. We meet Cathal looking out of his office window where the day is good: sunshine; birds; the smell of cut grass; “so much of life carrying smoothly on, despite the tangle of human upsets and the knowledge of how everything must end.” Cathal is writing rejection letters for bursary applicants. And there we have it, Keegan gives us the heads up that this is not a happily-ever-after. In this poignant novella, the fact that Cathal is not one of life’s winners is revealed through the world around him.
Claire Keegan has become one of my favourite fiction writers. She doesn’t need crime or gratuitous violence or car chases. She gives us people going about their daily lives. Her novels are full of little details, like Cathal taking the stairs so he doesn’t have to share the lift with a colleague, talking off his tie, finding his bus pass. “For no particular reason, a part of him doubted that the bus would come that day, but it soon came up Westland Road and pulled in unceremoniously and let the passengers on.” Details that build up to show our man is anti-social, uncomfortable in his work clothes, and a bit pessimistic.
We hear about his life with girlfriend, Sabine. She’s a cool dresser, she takes him to art exhibitions, pays for tickets. She seems a woman of good taste. There’s obviously something in Cathal we’re missing. She cooks him an excellent dinner, though he resents having to do the dishes. The dinners continue, she starts staying over. Cathal says “Why don’t we marry?” and the girl laughs and says it sounds like he wants an argument against it.
She moves in, with all her stuff.
There is not so much of a twist at the end of the story, more an inevitability that feels absolutely right and true. Keegan doesn’t follow any proscribed expectations of short-story writing or hero’s journey or character development. She’s just writing about people and the small things in their lives. Small things that become important. It’s perfect.
Other novellas by Claire Keegan, equally wonderful. Read them all:
Small Things like These
Foster
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