Oprah Winfrey has chosen Irish author Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These as her latest book club pick. The American talkshow host sang Keegan’s praises as she unveiled the award-winning author’s novella as the first instalment of her new YouTube series The Oprah Podcast, where she will feature book club authors and guests.
A long-standing literary tastemaker, Winfrey has now given Keegan, from Co Wicklow, her stamp of approval calling Small Things Like These “a beautiful Christmas story this time of the year”.
The book explores the internal conflict felt by coalman Bill Furlong, played by Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy in its recent film adaptation, as he bears witness to the horrors unfolding inside the local convent.
Winfrey said of the book: “What resonated with me? First of all, read the story, and I had never heard of the Magdalene laundries. This story, which is heartwarming and meaningful, and it’s about a father trying to do the best he can for his family, and then has this decision to make.... For me to run across a story that’s based in truth, but is actually fiction, was what was really exciting to me.”
If Winfrey’s track record for influencing the American publishing industry is anything to go by, Keegan could expect sales for her book to rapidly increase over the next week as her New Ross-based story makes waves across the Atlantic. The Oprah Effect is a well-documented phenomenon, which has seen many an author celebrated by the media personality enjoy a spike in book sales.
Winfrey first established her popular book club in 1996, bringing several authors into the limelight after introducing them to her large platform of devoted fans. After a 2007 plug, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road saw an increase in sales to more than a million copies. When she chose Nobel-Prize winner Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel The Bluest Eye in 2000, it saw sales go up by about 800,000.
In response to the endorsement, Keegan said: “To know that Oprah Winfrey took pleasure in reading my book is the most exquisite compliment, which will last my lifetime.”
“To be told that she has also recommended it for others to read and has chosen this novel for her book club is a tremendous honour. May her wonderful book club encourage people into reading for years and years to come,” she added.
Winfrey shared her resonance with one line from the book: “Was there any point in being alive without helping one another?”
“That is how I live my life,” she said. “But it’s also the reason why it’s such a beautiful Christmas story this time of the year.”
Launching this week in partnership with Starbucks, the book club revival’s first episode is set to include an interview with a woman who was sent to a Magdalene laundry as a 12 year old. Episodes of The Oprah Podcast can be streamed on YouTube and across other platforms.
