I have always admired those who can fold an entire world into a short story, and the novella form appears to perform this feat with deceptive ease. I like the fact that you can read a novella in one sitting, but that its narrative stays with you long after you have finished reading. Perhaps the novella has more in common with the poem than we might think.

I was not familiar with Claire Keegan’s writing, but her book – Small Things Like These – kept appearing online, so I treated myself to a copy, and was not disappointed. It’s short, but poignant and deeply emotive. Written in a style that reminds me of James Joyce’s Dubliners, the narrative is told from the perspective of Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant who is grateful for the good start he was given in life, despite his mother’s situation.

“Furlong had come from nothing. Less than nothing, some might say. His mother, at the age of sixteen, had fallen pregnant while working as a domestic for Mrs Wilson, the Protestant widow who lived in the big house a few miles out of town. When his mother’s trouble became known, and her people made it clear that they’d have no more to do with her, Mrs Wilson, instead of giving his mother her walking papers, told her she should stay on, and keep her work.”

While Furlong works hard to provide for his wife and daughters, he is also aware of the burden of poverty that others in his small community must bear, and of the great kindness that was shown to his mother all those years ago. This small book explores the fragile balance we must all negotiate between self and other, between the need to protect our own, and the desire to reach out and help those in greater need, despite the risk.

Foster is a similar-sized novella which holds just as much weight. Told from the perspective of a young girl, the story begins when she arrives at her aunt and uncle’s farm, with no real understanding of why she is there, or for how long. Gradually, she begins to relax and to settle into her new life in this new place, but there’s an underlying tension – a fear that all might not be as it seems, and that all good things must surely end. The story unravels itself, slowly, as the summer draws to a close.

Both novellas are taught with emotion. Highly recommended.

Small Things Like These and Foster by Claire Keegan are both published by Faber.