Takové maličkosti – Keeganová Claire (2023)

A captivating story nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2022 can be read as a fable about good and evil or an allegory of kindness. It takes us to an Irish town in the mid-eighties, plagued by December frosts, and culminates on Christmas Eve, where the true miracle is the quiet heroism and courage of an ordinary man. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and wood merchant, faces his busiest season. Ireland, burdened by recession, has yet to step into modern times, and the queues for support are still getting longer. Furlong knows how easy it is to lose everything, and as the father of five underage daughters, he is determined to work hard with his head down to avoid making enemies and to see all his children graduate from the only good girls' school in town. Among Furlong's clients is a local convent run by nuns, who also operate a laundry. Various rumors circulate about the convent, including that fallen girls are locked away there to be reformed. Furlong doesn't want to believe any of it, but one evening he arrives at the convent with a load much earlier than expected and uncovers a dark secret. When he later gets lost in the fog and asks an old man for directions, he receives a symbolic answer: 'This road leads…