So Late in the Day

“That was the problem with women falling out of love; the veil of romance fell away from their eyes, and they looked in and could read you.”

This short little story captures the point of view of this man trying to come to terms with the fact her fiancee had changed her mind about marrying him. We get glimpses of the past, how he asked her to move in with and marry him, only to find the reality of it less than desirable. It's a story about misogyny, the reconciliation between the idealized version of what a woman can do for you and what they need from you; it's also about how small comments (said and unsaid) can have such a huge impact in how another person sees you and what you mean to them. Because you're seeing this from his POV, you also get a glimpse at the stories he tells himself to make sense of what happened, to shift the blame away from him.

Claire Keegan is a master at exploring topics in a subtle way in a very short amount of pages. This is certainly worth a read.

   In “So Late in the Day,” Claire Keegan explores how men like Cathal, who is considered as a “bad Irish specimen” represent a wider issue affecting Western society. The story starts with pity for Cathal's loneliness and ends up showing his lack of emotional intelligence and sexism that led to break up. Keegan captures well the character of Cathal through minor things like his meanness and finally his pathetic state. Nevertheless, this approach undermines the impact of direct misogyny on the reader's opinion but still one cannot question its powerful depiction, yet they look forward to more of her unique storytelling voice. 

 ‘She also said that to some of you, we are just cunts,' she went on, ‘that she often hears Irish men referring to women in this way, and calling us whores and bitches. We had reached the end of the bottle and had not yet eaten but I remember clearly– that's what she said.' 

Claire writes so intentionally in this short, not a word feels wasted. A desolate piece covering misogyny where I just felt like Cathal just deserves this hollow life he's living out in all honesty. Claire doesn't give us any introspective insight into Cathal or whether there's even a shred of reflection, showing how engrained his mindset is, which also reinforces this misogynistic culture around men. Cathal only acts out of interest for himself and lacks genuine compassion or love.

Powerful and deceptively simple prose. She draws you in, and takes the reins. This is masterful, but also sad and, in one case, disturbing. I was disappointed with the last story, and wonder why she chose that ending. Not a light read, although you would not expect that from this author. She's gifted, and her words transport you, but I'm hesitant to recommend this to most of my reading friends.