So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men

So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men is a collection of short stories by Irish author Claire Keegan. Originally published in 2023 by Grove Press, the collection includes the titles “So Late in the Day,” “The Long and Painful Death,” and “Antarctica.” All written from the third-person point of view, the enclosed stories feature distinct characters, relationships, and conflicts. Cumulatively the stories explore themes including the Quest for Identity, Autonomy, and Fulfillment, How Misogyny and Patriarchal Gender Roles Threaten Women’s Lives and Safety, and How Relationships Shape and Clarify Personal Desires. The collection was inspired by Keegan’s 2022 short story “So Late in the Day,” which originally appeared in The New Yorker.

This guide refers to the 2023 Grove Press hardback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source text and guide feature depictions of sexual content, gender discrimination, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual violence and harassment.

Plot Summaries

So Late in the Day includes three short stories. Each follows a distinct plot line and employs its own literary devices and narrative structure. At the same time, the collected stories all feature relational conflicts between women and men.

In the title short story, “So Late in the Day,” the main character, Cathal, reports to work on the day he was supposed to get married. He sits at his desk feeling distracted and irritated. He has passing interactions with his coworkers and boss, the latter of whom suggests he take the rest of the day off given his relational situation. Cathal refuses and spends the remainder of the day slowly picking away at his work.

After work, Cathal takes the bus back to his home in Arklow. On the way, he tries to ignore a chatty woman sitting next to him and studies the other passengers with derision.

Back at home, Cathal settles in for a night alone. He lets his cat out of the bathroom, realizing he accidentally locked her in, and then feeds her. Then he searches for food for himself. He discovers the penis-shaped cake his brother got him for his bachelor’s party in the fridge but microwaves one of his ex-fiancée Sabine’s Weight Watchers meals instead. While eating the bland food, Cathal clicks through the channels on television. He ultimately lands on a documentary about Lady Diana.

After the movie ends, Cathal eats some of the penis cake and drinks some leftover champagne. He sits on the couch and stews over his relationship with Sabine. They met two years prior. Cathal thought things were going well between them and proposed. However, when Sabine moved in, he started to feel annoyed. She had too many belongings, and she left dishes in the sink. He confronted her, but she accused him of being a misogynist. Then just before they were to marry, she broke off the engagement. Cathal stumbles up to bed and lies awake, unable to stop thinking about all the money he wasted on the wedding that will never happen.

In “The Long and Painful Death,” the unnamed protagonist—referred to as “the woman”—secures a writing residency at Böll House on Achill Island. She arrives at the idyllic, pastoral setting in the middle of the night. Lying on the couch, she feels content imagining how she’ll spend her time the next day.

In the morning, the woman starts thinking about her writing project while preparing for the day. She is glad to have so much time to herself. Then a German man calls the house phone and insists that the woman let him inside. He says the residency director told him she should give him a tour of the house. The woman hesitates, explaining that she’s working, and asks him to return that evening. Afterward, she feels uneasy and distracted. Her free day feels ruined now that she’ll have to have the man over.

The woman drives into town for coffee and cake mix. On her way back, she pulls over to watch a group of hens playing in the dirt. Then she wanders up ahead to the cove, where she undresses and takes a naked swim. In the water, she feels relaxed. She then lies on the warm stones to dry off until she senses a presence watching her from above. She scrambles to get dressed and returns to the house, where she makes the cake and thinks about her work. Then she reads an Anton Chekhov short story and takes a bath.

That evening, the German man returns. He is callous, rude, and brusquely pushes through the house with little concern for the woman’s privacy or feelings. Then he steals her chair by the fire and scarfs down several helpings of cake while insulting her work and questioning her right to the residency. Irritated, the woman makes him leave. After he’s gone, she can’t sleep. She stays up all night writing a short story about the man. She gives him cancer and slowly kills him.

In “Antarctica,” the unnamed protagonist—also referred to as “the woman”—decides that she wants to have an affair. Another year is passing, and she’s afraid she won’t get the chance if she doesn’t act on her desire soon. She settles her house for her husband and children and then takes the train to the city to spend the weekend Christmas shopping.

The next day, the woman visits a pub where she meets a local man. The two end up getting drunk together and talking about their lives. Then they walk through town and visit the market, and the man invites the woman back to his house on the city’s outskirts.

The woman is surprised by how barren the man’s house is but admires his giant bathtub. He invites her to take a bath and shaves while she bathes. Then he scrubs her body and combs her hair. Afterward, they have sex. After sex, the man makes the woman dinner while she watches television and drinks wine. Over dinner, the two discuss their imaginings of hell before returning to the bedroom and having sex again.

In the morning, the woman wakes before the man and heads back into town. She checks out of her hotel and calls her family to say she’ll be back that evening. Then the man shows up, inviting her out for lunch and drinks before she leaves. She has time and so agrees. After lunch, the two take a long walk into the woods. The man aggressively kisses the woman and insists that she come back to his house. She doesn’t feel like having sex again but agrees.

At the house, the man undresses the woman and pushes her onto the bed. Before she can protest, he handcuffs her to the headboard. They have sex this way, but afterward, the man disappears into the kitchen, leaving the woman constrained. He returns with eggs and coffee, insisting she eats and refusing to unchain her. He feeds her the food and coffee, and she falls asleep. When she wakes up, she’s gagged and chained, and the man is leaving for work. He insists this is the way things have to be because he loves her.

After he leaves, the woman desperately tries to free herself but to no avail. Chained to the bed and unable to scream, she feels a chill coming in through the open window. She doubts she’ll see her family again.