Oprah’s Book Club: Claire Keegan & Small Things Like These | The Oprah Podcast

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Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks premieres with a New York Times bestseller which the newspaper named one of their 100 best books of the 21st century: Small Things Like These. Oprah sits down with award-winning author Claire Keegan at a Starbucks café to discuss this 109th book club pick. Joined by a live audience of readers - over coffee - Claire shares her writing process, takes questions, and explains some of the main themes in this modern masterpiece.

The heroic tale takes us on a journey of discovering what matters most in life and why it’s important to make brave decisions. Oprah will zoom with a woman in Ireland who experienced firsthand what the characters in the story encounter. We’ll also meet two Irish High School students who encouraged their entire class to read the book.

00:00:00 Claire Keegan Welcome at Starbucks in New York City!
00:01:57 109th Book Club Pick: “Small Things Like These”
00:02:16 “Small Things Like These” Plot Synopsis
00:04:14 Claire Keegan's Welcome To The Show
00:04:36 About Bill Furlong, The Book's Main Character
00:06:41 Stories Go Looking For Their Authors
00:07:40 When Claire Knew She Was a Writer
00:08:17 How Claire Comes Up With Titles For Her Books
00:09:30 What The Title Means To Claire
00:10:42 How Claire Developed Her Characters
00:12:27 Why A Longer Novel Would Not Have Worked For A Character Like Bill Furlong
00:14:14 The Magdalene Laundries
00:14:48 Personal Connections to the Laundries
00:16:00 Intro Maureen Sullivan, Survivor of The Magdalene Laundries and author of “Girl In The Tunnel”
00:18:17 Maureen's Reaction To “Small Things Like These”
00:19:20 Maureen's Response To The Trauma Of The Laundries
00:20:00 “Girl In The Tunnel” Is An Excellent Read
00:24:15 “Small Things Like These” - The Movie
00:24:38 Maureen's Reaction To The Movie
00:25:57 Claire's Reaction To Writing a Book That Helps People Heal
00:26:57 How Claire's Experience In Ireland Influenced The Book
00:28:18 Starbucks Coffee Break
00:28:48 If You Could Have Coffee With Anyone In The Book, Who Would You Choose?
00:30:48 What The 1980s Were Like In Ireland
00:30:35 High School Students Join From Ireland
00:31:36 Shame And Guilt Passed Down Through Generations
00:33:15 They Think The Book Is So Accurate About Ireland in the 80s
00:33:52 What Inspired Claire To Write This Book?
00:34:43 How It Feels To Read And Discuss This Book In Schools
00:36:00 How This Book Resonated With a Father In The Audience
00:37:03 Is This Book A Love Story?
00:39:13 The Message For The Reader To Takeaway
00:40:58 What Makes Someone Able to Make A Courageous Choice?
00:42:02 Oprah’s A-Ha Moment
00:43:27 Closing Moments Of The Book
00:46:01 How The Book And Movie Will Open Up The Conversation
00:46:52 Was Claire Ever Afraid About The Response To The Book?
00:47:14 Thank You

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