BookBrowse Reviews So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

BookBrowse:

Claire Keegan probes confrontations between women and men in her collection of three short stories, So Late in the Day.

Irish writer Claire Keegan consistently showcases the short story's everlasting appeal. In her collection So Late in the Day, she presents three clever tales of men and women interacting and surprising each other along the way. At only 128 pages, the book proves you don't need length to pack a powerful punch. Only a talented writer can condense such strong meaning into short fiction, and Keegan proves her masterful skill in this area again and again.

In the title story, which opens the collection, a man named Cathal reminisces and regrets a relationship lost — the subconscious, insecure steps made that ensured its failure, and the steps that could have saved it. 

The second story, "A Long and Painful Death," describes a writer staying at Heinrich Böll's cottage on the Irish coast as an artist-in-residence. The writer enjoys herself until an unexpected guest puts a damper on her evening.

Lastly, in "Antarctica," Keegan weaves a dark tale of lust and the prices we pay to feel in control. In this piece, a woman takes a calculated risk, but things don't turn out as planned.

Keegan knows restraint, and what is not said is often more important than what is. She's never condescending to the audience; she plainly presents scenes, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.

The three stories are linked by life's conundrums and motivations. How easy it is to live a lie, or how we project our insecurities onto our partners. The realization that you might see someone entirely differently from how they are inside. What you expect someone to be thinking may be the last thing on their mind. Can we ever really know anything about other people?

Whether it be guilt, deep-rooted rage, or powerful desire, Keegan writes characters with intense emotions. While they present serene images to the world, inside them are whirlwinds of chaos and frustration, anxiety and confusion. Consider the vindictive fury that the second story's protagonist exhibits while writing, seeking catharsis:

"She had just given him a name, and cancer, and was working through his illness. As she worked, the sun rose. It was a fine thing to sit there describing a sick man and to feel the sun rising."

There's incredible depth to the stories, each a capsule of dilemmas. Initially, they're sparse in plot, but slowly structure emerges as the characters examine themselves. They begin as one thing and evolve into another. There is also beauty in life's tiny details:

"...She looked out over the hills. The whitest clouds she had ever seen hugged tightly the brow of each, as though the hills had been on fire and the fires were now doused and smoking. She washed the berries, mashed them with sugar, and filled the cake. It looked to her like a fine cake, laid there on the kitchen table. She put out white cups and saucers, small plates and spoons, two forks."

Keegan's writing is straightforward, but her observations make ordinary days effulge with magic. Her characters are often familiar. These are people remorseful over past transgressions, tired but resolute, wondering how different they'd be if brought up with kinder parents; coping with anger at expectations and blindness, longings, the people they used to be. Wondering how best to absolve themselves of pain, and realizing most questions won't have an answer.

This review first ran in the January 10, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.