In a Nutshell: Touching and subtle. Beautiful writing, heartfelt emotions, realistic characters. You’ll want more at the end. But you’ll also realize that you have acquired far more than the 90-odd pages contain.

Story Synopsis:
The unnamed first-person protagonist, a child of unspecified age, has been sent by her parents to live with a foster family on a rural Irish farm while her mother readies herself to give birth to yet another child. She doesn’t know the people she is to stay with, and she doesn’t know when she is to return home. What she doesn’t know is that life is going to bloom for her in this foster home. But all good things come to an end, right? Or don’t they?

I loved the three main characters: the child and the two foster parents. Keegan sketches their personalities in a striking way without going into details. It is only with every subsequent scene that you begin to put a picture of what might be the backstory of the characters.

I’ve read three Claire Keegan works so far, and each time, I’ve read the respective story twice. The first time the regular way, and the second time to see what more clues I might have missed. Her writing is very intelligent, and she also respects her readers’ intelligence by not spoon-feeding them every single detail. Nor does she shove the emotions into your face but causes you to feel them through simple scenes and hidden cues. I do appreciate this trait of hers, though it makes me work that much harder to glean the best of her writing as she leaves a lot unsaid. In this story though, I wish she had revealed at least a few more details. The age of the protagonist, for one. While we can gauge that the child could be anywhere between 6-10 years old, but I like knowing the age of child characters so that I can picture them and their behaviour better.

Names in all their forms have a significant role in the delivery of this novella, which is quite ironic as our narrator remains anonymous throughout the story. She is referred to variously as ‘girl’ or ‘petal’ or any other term, which reveals how the speaker views her. What is also interesting is her own approach to names. Her temporary foster mom, for instance, is always “the woman” in her thoughts while the foster dad is mostly “Kinsella”. There is also a significant moment connected to names at the very end, which is the most poignant moment of the story.

The writing is, as always, poetic without being over the top. Keegan maintains in her scenes the perfect balance between description and conversation, never allowing one to overpower the other. She is also true to the national identity of the characters, and retains the Irish lilt in their lines. The child’s emotions of awe and worry and fear and comfort come out well through the first person rendition. The story is medium-paced, and it would be better if you read it slower to get the exact sense of what’s happening. Keegan’s books are never to be skip-read.

The bittersweet ending left my heart longing for more. Though I know it was the only possible ending for this story, one can still wish that fiction worked better than reality and gave the girl an ending she deserved instead of an ending she was destined to have.

All in all, this isn’t a story that will leave you easily. It isn’t perfect, but it is striking in its writing and memorable in its characters. Definitely worth a read.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the DRC of “Foster”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

It may be short, but it packs a huge emotional punch. A young girl goes to spend time with some relatives when her family is going through the birth of yet another child. Her family doesn't have much in the way of money or time to spend with her, so the time she spends with her relatives fosters (see what I did there???) hopes and wishes and dreams within her. Her relatives are able to give her much of what is missing and they are kind, loving, and gentle with her. This all just really struck a chord with me, and I recommend it if you need something quick that'll grab your heart.

It always hits me harder when feelings are filtered through the perspective of a child narrator. Foster totally wrecked me. Make sure you have lots of tissues nearby for this one.

The story is really simple and short. A little girl is taken to spend a summer at a farm with a childless couple who dote on her. She is not used to feeling loved and cared for, and the little trio quickly become a family unit, even though the arrangement is only temporary.

This is my second short book by Claire Keegan, and she has become a favourite author. More, please!

Thank you @groveatlantic for the DRC.

Foster is a novella set in rural Ireland where a father takes his daughter to stay with relatives for an undetermined time while her mother has another baby. With the Kinsellas, the girl receives love, kindness, acceptance, and finally enough food to quell her hunger. She also learns of grieving and a deep family loss. This was originally published as a short story in the New Yorker in 2010 and has been reworked and reissued as a novella. Claire Keegan offers a classic, poignant, gorgeous story with beautiful characters. Everyone should read this and her Small Things Like These.

This may be the best book i have ever read. So well written and told. Just a lovely story. This author is quickly becoming one of my favorites for sure!

A beautifully written story (and well voiced on the audio) entailing a short period in the life of a young Irish girl when she’s sent to live with another Irish family when her mother gives birth to yet another child. Poignant and thought provoking, this is a tender story of what could be. Keegan tugs at the heart strings leaving us wondering in the end. My only wish was it was longer!! Thank you to Grove Press, RB Media and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this story.

🌟FOSTER🌟 by Claire Keegan ~published 2010, to be released as a revised standalone book in the U.S. on November 1, 2022.

5+ Another new favorite! This touching novella is the furthest thing imaginable from flashy, and yet I was dazzled. Winner of the Davy Byrnes Memorial Prize.

My heartfelt thanks to groveatlantic and netgalley for the advance review copy. All thoughts are my own.

Our setting is Ireland in the 1980s. We meet an unnamed girl, driving with her father to a farm to visit relatives she hasn’t seen since she was a baby. We soon realize that her parents have too many mouths to feed, and that the girl’s relatives have agreed to foster her for an indefinite period of time. The story is told from the girl’s perspective, “in the eyes of a child” so to speak, with the emotion just below the surface, ready to burst free at any moment…

Oh my gosh, I LOVED this book and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this author. Keegan is the queen of quiet, the sultan of subtle, the virtuoso of things left unsaid. And I am so sick of this expression but, yes, for being so small (89 pages) the book packs a mean punch. What an achievement, truly.

Lately, I’ve been preferring shorter works, and Keegan knows how to get to the heart of things efficiently, without needing any superfluous words. There’s no fluff, there’s no showing off, it’s just pure depth. Be still, my heart! I can’t offer a higher compliment to Keegan than that.

I’m not typically pushy with my recommendations, but this fantastic piece deserves my very highest endorsement. I encourage you to pick this up pronto, and grab Small Things Like These while you’re at it! You can read either, or even both, in one sitting. The emotion and the kindness on display makes this perfect for the holiday season, a time when I think we all strive to be just that little bit more compassionate. Now please excuse me while I go read it again… Out today (November 1st)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC

This novella was perfect to me. I went in not really knowing what to expect, but the amount of emotional punch it packs, the clarity and beauty of its prose, and depth of characters set it apart amongst books I've read this year. The premise - a little girl from an impoverished family is sent to a relative's family to be fostered for the summer as her mother is about to give birth to another addition to their overflowing family. What follows is a touching coming of age story that is pitch perfect, containing fine lessons for any writer. I'm encouraging my book club to read this so I can have people to discuss it with.

Reading this book is a precious experience...and I don't mean "cute". It's a book to read slowly and treasure the words and what is going on between the words. It took me about two hours to read it, and I read it slowly to savor how Keegan conveys information about the characters and how they experience life events.
This book was originally published in 2010 but I''m not sure if it appeared in the US. Keegan's book, "Small Things Like These was on the short list to win this year's Booker Prize, and I was sorry it didn't win. The latter was so well-received and loved, it appears "Foster" was re-issued to reach those readers just discovering Claire Keegan.
I really dislike reviews that tell the whole story of the book and give away too much. I just want to know if the reviewer recommends the book and why. But I will say that this book take place probably in 1981 in the Republic of Ireland while the Troubles (the term is also used in reference to the 1916 uprising and its aftermath) were raging in the North. A character refers to a death from a hunger strike in NI, and in the spring and summer of 1981 ten Irish prisoners of the British government died in an Ulster prison.
For anyone who visited or lived in Ireland in the time before the Celtic Tiger, it was sometimes surprising how the lives of people living in rural areas hadn't changed very much in centuries. The book tells of events experienced by a little girl who is "fostered" for a summer by a loving couple as her mother prepares for the birth of yet another baby. The child's "home" is as different from her foster home as chalk is to cheese. Keegan does a magnificent job of conveying a child's limited information about what adults do and why they do it. Also magnificent is the writing about the child's emotional sensitivity and acute sense of observation. I'll stop here because I don't want to deprive any reader of any of the deep emotions s/he will feel when reading this book.
Wish I could give it ten stars.

This book tells the story of a young child who one summer, when her mother is about to give birth to a new baby, is taken by her father to live with distant relatives, the Kinsellas, on their farm. Her father gives no indication of when if at all she may return home or why she is being sent away. In her temporary home, she, much to her surprise, discovers warmth and caring that was lacking in her own home. She also senses there is something that the Kinsellas, despite all their affection, are not sharing -- and wonders how that will impact her future with them.

This is a perceptive examination of family, childhood, and grief; the different ways they are experienced; and how that shapes people's lives in often unexpected ways. A touching story that will stay with you long after you finish it.

Highly recommended.

This novella of less than 100 pages can be read in one sitting, but its impact will last much longer than it takes to read it.

An unnamed Irish girl is taken by her father to live on a farm with Edna and John Kinsella, relatives of her mother. Though she knows nothing about them or how long she will stay with them, she thrives in their care because they treat her with kindness and show her true affection.

The author writes in simple, spare prose that is elegant and evocative. Every word seems to have been carefully chosen. Characters are developed with statements that say so much. For example, the girl’s father is revealed through statements like “A stalk of rhubarb falls to the floor . . . [Dad] waits for [Edna] to pick it up, to hand it to him” and “He is given to lying about things that would be nice, if they were true” and “he never stays in any place long after he’s eaten” and “Why did he leave without so much as a good-bye, without ever mentioning that he would come back for me?”

The ending is ambiguous, so the reader can interpret it as s/he wants. Personally, I opt for a hopeful ending, especially because throughout the book, I kept expecting something sad and traumatic to happen. Apparently, there’s a film adaptation of the story entitled The Quiet Girl so I’m anxious to see how it interprets the ending.

I first encountered Claire Keegan earlier this year when I read Small Things Like These (which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize). I loved that novel (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2022/01/review-of-small-things-like-these-by.html) and I loved Foster. Anyone looking for a nuanced narrative that is both beautiful and moving need look no further.

Foster by Claire Keegan was such a moving and touching story. This was the first book that I had the pleasure of reading by Claire Keegan. Her writing was so exquisite and her descriptions of the Irish countryside were so authentic. They made me feel like I had been transported back to that impressionable summer of 1981 and saw the Kinsella farm through the eyes of young Leanbh. Foster was a very short story or novella. Although it was stingy when it came to the number of pages the book was comprised of, its deep and meaningful message was heard loud and clear.

Leanbh was a young girl who lived on a poor Irish farm with her mother, father and many siblings. The family was quite poor. Affection was not something that any of the children of Dan and Mary expected or experienced. It was just the way things were. At the beginning of the summer of 1981, Leanbh’s mother was near the end of another pregnancy, with yet another child. Without any explanation or discussion, Leanbh’s father drove her to a farm that belonged to a distant relative. Leanbh had no recollection of ever meeting these strangers. Her father left her with these strangers without any explanation of why she was spending the summer with them or when she would return home. There were no hugs, no promises of seeing each other soon. After delivering Leanbh to the farm that belonged to John and Edna Kinsella, her father just got in his car and left. Leanbh was all of six or seven years old. What kind of parent does that?

Leanbh took some time but eventually settled in and realized for the first time in her young life that there are all kinds of families. She looked forward to spending time with both Edna and John. John and Edna Kinsella showed Leanbh kindness, cared for her, taught her things, displayed patience, honesty and compassion and had no inhibitions of displaying their feelings toward her. The time Leanbh spent with John and Edna Kinsella was magical for her. It was in such sharp contrast to her life with her own mother, father and siblings. Would Leanbh have to return to the home she grew up in? Edna and John were also harboring a secret. Would that secret surface? How would it affect them if it did? What would Leanbh’s fate be?

I really enjoyed reading Foster by Claire Keegan. It was beautifully written and triggered all my emotions. I look forward to reading more books by Claire Keegan. If you have not read this heart wrenching book I highly recommend it. Publication is set for November 1, 2022.

Thank you to Grove Press for allowing me to read Foster by Claire Keegan through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In FOSTER, a father drops off his daughter with distant relations for an indeterminate length of time; money is tight, children are many, and a new baby is on the way. This girl experiences a substitute family, an alternate way of living. John and Edna Kinsella, themselves childless, attempt to draw her into their daily routines, even as their own unspoken grief is at the edges.

Claire Keegan is masterful at working with language and finding a setting to match her aim, telling what feels on the surface like a sparsely written, straightforward story, but there is a richness to the novella, so that in these pages, almost without realizing, without notice, a deceptively simple story is found to be rich in heart. What does it mean to shepherd a child, to teach them and care for them? How do we find strength to be vulnerable, to connect with another? What does it look like to unconditionally love another?

The emotions are expansive and readers are broken open at the end. After the closing words, I took a deep breath and just sat in the moment, wishing I had someone nearby who'd also read it so we could discuss it.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Review will be posted on my blog on publication day.

EXCERPT: With my mother it is all work: us, the butter making, the dinners, the washing-up and getting up and getting ready for Mass and school, weaning calves and hiring men to plough and harrow the fields, stretching the money and setting the alarm. But this is a different type of house. Here there is room, and time to think. There may even be money to spare.

ABOUT 'FOSTER': A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers’ house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. And then a secret is revealed and suddenly, she realizes how fragile her idyll is.

MY THOUGHTS: Claire Keegan writes with a poetic beauty that reminds me of calm waves lapping at the shore. Although the reality of where this young girl has come from, and will be returned to, is harsh and stark, Keegan's writing is anything but.

There is a stunning emotional depth in this novella. Keegan conveys much in very few pages. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here on how to treat a child, and the blossoming of this girl away from a life of overcrowded poverty, just one of many children, in a place where she is recognised and cherished as a person in her own right, is a wonderous experience.

I have been awed by everything I have so far read by this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#Foster #NetGalley

I: #clairekeeganfiction @groveatlantic

T: @CKeeganFiction @GroveAtlantic

#fivestarread #historicalfiction #irishfiction #novella #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: Claire Keegan was born in County Wicklow, the youngest of a large family. She travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana when she was seventeen, and studied English and Political Science at Loyola University. She returned to Ireland in 1992 and lived for a year in Cardiff, Wales, where she undertook an MA in creative writing and taught undergraduates at the University of Wales.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Foster by Claire Keegan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

A poignant and compelling book, a moving story, a lovely and clever main characters.
I loved the storytelling and the style of writing, the story kept me hooked and moved me.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Foster is the story of a young girl whose notions of family are drastically changed when she experiences a different kind of family life. She spends a summer with warm and loving relatives and compares it to life with her parents and siblings. The climactic ending is open to interpretation but is not unexpected.

”Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.”

This novella has been adapted to film, An Cailín Ciúin (A Quiet Girl), released in Ireland in May, 2022. It is not yet available in the US, but after viewing the coming attractions, I know that this is a movie not to be missed.

To begin with the story, I loved the way the author described the landscapes and the memories spent through the eyes of a little girl. With vivid settings and an equally compelling storytelling style, Foster is a bittersweet tale that pushes the reader to attach to the characters in a short amount of time.

Now, to move on with my issues with the book is the length. It was both a bane and a boon for me. While I believe the story was laid out at the right pace ad length, at the same time it didn't make me feel as strongly toward certain aspects of the story.

Apart from the length, I enjoyed this read and look forward to reading more from the author.

A big thank-you to Claire Keegan, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A poignant tale of an Irish girl from a poor background who spends a short time with a foster family and through whose eyes we learn about the tragedy that struck the couple some time ago. Her innocence, intelligence and experience already gained despite young age is most moving.

Brings forth emotions: sparse language, good tale👨‍👩‍👧

In few pages, Foster paints relatable portraits of two rural Irish families and a young girl who connects them. Her birth family struggles with too many mouths to feed and a father who's proud and distant, a mother left to keep the family running. They send one daughter off to relatives to live and the child learns what she's been missing.

It's a very good, poignant story easily read in one sitting. The ending is ambiguous; I think I wish that it wasn't but it left room for me to conjure the hopeful conclusion I desired.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I absolutely LOVED this book! A short but powerful read, which I finished in a day and made me tear up. I will definitely be buying this in the future to keep on my shelf, read again, and lend to friends.