I am taking this statement from a Goodreads review I saw about this book: “Small but mighty.” That is the perfect description for this novel. It is super short and can be read in one day. I listened to the audiobook at 1.25x speed and it was perfect. The audiobook narrator, Aidan Kelly, is perfect as the main character and I enjoyed his voice very much.
You will fall in love with Bill Furlong, the main character. He chooses to go down a hard path and it is touching to see unravel. This novel is beautifully written: Tragic but with so much hope. It is based on real events of the Irish Catholic Church abusing down on their luck young girls. But please do not let that deter you from reading it. There is not much else to say without ruining the book so the best thing to do is just read it.
In more than one house, children, off from school, ran out to greet him, as though he was Santa Claus, just bringing the bag of coal.
Here are a few of the accolades this book has:
- Shortlisted for The Booker Prize, which to me is one of the best book awards out there.
- A New York Times Top 100 Books of the 21st Century
- Oprah’s Book Club 2024
- Turned into a movie produced by Irish actor Cillian Murphy.
Sometimes Furlong, seeing the girls going through the small things which needed to be done – genuflecting in the chapel or thanking a shopkeeper for the change – felt a deep, private joy that these children were his own.
Book It Babe 