Oprah Winfrey picks Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These for Book Club

American broadcaster Oprah Winfrey has chosen Irish author Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These as her latest Oprah's Book Club pick.

Describing Small Things Like These as 'a beautifully crafted novel of emotional depth and moral complexity'. Keegan's acclaimed novella features in the first edition of Winfrey's new YouTube series The Oprah Podcast.

Often cited as one of the most powerful and influential forces in American publishing, many Oprah Book Club selections have become U.S. bestsellers. Small Things Like These is the second Irish book selected for the Book Club this year, after Colm Tóibin's Long Island in May.

Set in a small Irish town in 1985, Small Things Like These follows Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, who faces a moral dilemma when he discovers a disturbing secret at a local convent.

Published in 2021, the book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize, as well as winning the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Kerry Prize for Irish Novel of the Year, and was named as one of the New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

A screen adaptation of Small Things Like These premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, with Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh in the leading roles.

Keegan's earlier novel Foster was also adapted for cinema as the Oscar nominated An Cailín Ciúin.

In response to the Oprah's Book Club endorsement, Claire Keegan responded: "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," the author added. "May her wonderful book club encourage people into reading for years and years to come."