The Shortest Day - Colm Tóibín - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Colm Tóibín
GENRE: Historical Short Story
RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An appealing standalone short story set in Ireland, focussing on an archaeologist-professor who might be close to the biggest discovery of his career. Well-written, with a great combination of realism and fantasy. Enjoyable!


Story Synopsis:
Middle-aged Professor O' Kelly is excited about his upcoming trip to the Newgrange passage tomb site, even though it is just some days to Christmas. He knows his wife Claire will handle the Christmas prep, so he can, without guilt, focus on what he loves so dedicatedly – archaeology. O’Kelly believes that an archaeologist must make know only what can be proved, and firmly refuses to speculate about historical details that rely only on hearsay or speculation.
His upcoming visit though has caused a strange unrest among two groups. One is the living people of County Meath, and the other is the souls who inhabit the historical monument. Both the living and the timeless are determined to stop O’Kelly from seeing what happens at Newgrange on the shortest day of the year. Will they succeed?
The story comes to us from the third person perspective of various characters.


Considering my lengthy synopsis, it might be tough to accept that this is just a 31-page standalone short story. Despite its short length, it packs a lot in!

I liked most of the main characters, though the professor’s taken-for-granted attitude towards his wife was annoying. This lack of perfection makes him more human, and hence adds depth to the story. The characters of County Meath, both the living and the dead, are also interesting in their limited roles. The spirits are eclectic in their personalities, and strangely curious about the present, while still obsessed by the past.

I also loved the archaeological perspective of the professor. The way he repeatedly paused to consider if a tidbit could actually be a fact from the past or is just a big assumption is very interestingly written.

It is surprising to see just how many characters are a part of this short work, and yet, the number doesn’t get overwhelming, making the story easy to follow. The author reveals just as much about the characters as is necessary for us to get a handle on their personality.

‘The Shortest Day’ of the title is an obvious reference to the winter solstice, a day that has a very important role to play in this tale. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Newgrange site actually exists in Northern Ireland, and that the archaeological details of this story are accurate, as is the fact about what happens there on winter solstice. I wish this had been mentioned in an afterword or author’s note itself. I stumbled on this discovery just by chance. That said, the site is apparently quite famous in Europe and the most visited archaeological monument in Ireland, so my being a complete outsider worked against me here.

Though the story is set around Christmas, it is not Christmassy in the holly-jolly sense. However, the ending left me with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart. In that sense, it is a good choice to read in in the holiday season.

Irish writers seem to have a knack of creating the perfect atmosphere for their stories. Through this little tale, I feel like I too explored Newgrange and County Meath. This is my first work by this author, and seeing how invested I was in this story from start to end, I am definitely going to check out his other works.

On the flip side, the story is clearly historical but the time period it is set in isn’t mentioned anywhere. The story incorporates several facts and real people, so a brief glimpse about the author’s inspiration behind this story would have been fascinating to read.

Definitely recommended, for both the characters and the beautiful combination of past and present.

This standalone story is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

Fun Facts: In reality, Professor Michael O'Kelly, considered one of Ireland’s leading archaeologists, excavated and restored Newgrange from 1962 to 1975. His wife’s name was Claire, and she was an active collaborator in her husband’s work. In 1967, O’Kelly and his team were the first to experience what happens in Newgrange on winter solstice.

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