The simple language and the brevity of Small Things Like These show how the novel absolutely doesn't need to be Henry James's 'Loose baggy monster' (of the 19th-century) to tell a fine, poignant, deep and deeply sad (and uplifting at the same time) story. A story of an ordinary man in ordinary circumstances who discovers his origins aren't quite what he thought they were, and when he discovers that, he decides on an act of courageous kindness. I can only hope - because I can still see him in the final pages 'Climbing the street towards his own front door' - that his act is met with similar courage and kindness. (The novel doesn't reveal.)