Our April Book Club novel is, in our opinion, by one of the most compelling modern Irish writers, Claire Keegan. The Times has identified Keegan as, “A genuine once-in-a-generation writer” and Hilary Mantel describes her storytelling mastery as, “Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving.”
Celebrated for her powerful short fiction and considered by the New York Times as “among the form’s most masterful practitioners”, So Late in the Day is a brief, beautiful yet powerful story that subtly highlights an undercurrent of misogyny that can be found innately hiding in the day-to-day relationships between a man and woman.
Keegan carefully balances sympathy, regret, and frustration, presented with a poetic simplicity that gently focuses on the constant struggles of women living within the patriarchal structure of society. Beginning innocently, the male main character is at work, diligent yet distracted and upset – you feel sympathy for him. Yet as the story progresses, as more is uncovered about him and his dark thoughts, it is unveiled that our sympathy is misplaced, we have been cleverly tricked into compassion for a character that ultimately proves to be incapable of it himself.
So Late in the Day, cuts to an emotional core, not via grand statements or physical violence, but rather via the subtle undercurrent of repression the main character brings to his relationship – the lack of reciprocal generosity, the ingrained expectations placed on his partner, the unequal treatment in the relationship, and the dismissive manipulation of the woman he is engaged to marry.
Gentle yet profound, we can confirm that So Late in the Day is exquisite literature that can (and likely will be) devoured in one sitting.
Synopsis: So Late in the Day
After an uneventful Friday at the Dublin office, Cathal faces into the long weekend and takes the bus home. There, his mind agitates over a woman named Sabine with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently. All evening, with only the television and a bottle of champagne for company, thoughts of this woman and others intrude – and the true significance of this particular date is revealed. From one of the finest writers working today, Keegan’s new story asks if a lack of generosity might ruin what could be between men and women. Is it possible to love without sharing?
