Claire Keegan is a new-to-me author. I chose Foster on the recommendation of my two favorite Ann/es: Ann Patchett and Anne Bogel.

This novella is a master class in pathos. With careful prose, Keegan writes only what the stories and characters need and nothing more. Somehow she does so without making the work feel rushed, constrained or withholding. The sentences are poignant, but not precious. They work behind the scenes to evoke emotional depth and complexity rather than to be noticed for their own sake.

I am eager to read other work by Keegan, and plan to start with her 2021 novella, Small Things Like These, which has been shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.

A lovely story of a girl who is fostered for a while. I just loved this slice of life book and am surprised by how much was packed into this small book. Keegan is an excellent writer!

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for a review copy audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book takes place in Ireland, and is about a girl and her family. The family is poor and struggling - the girl barely has any clothes and is always dirty. The girl is sent to live with another family who is a little more privileged than her own. The family she goes to live with shows so much love and compassion to this girl, and they don’t even know her.

This was a short and quick read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My only negative review is that I couldn’t understand some of the words that the narrator was saying — she had a thick accent. Overall, it was a great short story.

I received an advanced audio review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This very sparse short story is like poetry in the fact that is says a lot with very little language. Very sad meditation on love, family and poverty. I had to give a few listens to pick up on all the layers in between the words. Definitely a literally treat to be slowly savored

Another sparkling novella from Claire Keegan. Her work is as much about the language as it is the spaces between the language. Her characters say so much in their silences, and Keegan is one of the best writers working today.

I fell in love with Claire Keegan's writing with Small Things Like These and this novella (short story?) has a similar feel. The audiobook was beautifully narrated and enhanced the story with the lovely accents further transporting the reader to Ireland.

I first "met" Claire Keegan's writing in Small Things Like These, so I was eager to read more of her work.

Foster is beautiful, moving, haunting, heartbreaking... and not long enough. I really did not want the story to end on the note it did. Her writing from the opening sentence drew me in and held my attention until the last word.

It is the story of a small girl in Ireland who is dropped off at a foster family, who will care for her while her mother is in the late stages of pregnancy with yet another child.

And so begins the story... and what evolves is this tender relationship with the couple she is staying with. There is love, and joy, and all the things that are missing from her life at home. And then she finds out a surprise, which puts things off kilter a bit.

But the ending... my gosh. I cried.

I listened to this short story and the narration is excellent! I highly recommend!

I would like to thank Netgalley, RB Media, and HighBridge Audio for the audio copy of this book!

Yet another deeply involving, moving and surprising work by my favorite novelist Claire Keegan. I was absolutely enchanted by this tale. Bravo.

This short story held a big punch. It was heartfelt and held my interest through the entirety. So we’ll written and impactful.

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy.

This is a short and sweet story. I could see how these kind of situations can happen with large families. It’s was a positive experience which I’m wasn’t always the case. Throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

FOSTER
Claire Keegan


Foster is the first short story I’ve read by Claire Keegan. It was first published in 2010.

It is about a young girl taken to live with distant relatives on a farm in rural Ireland.

As a short story, it is extremely effective. The details are haunting and clear. I recall certain moments like I would a horror movie. The writing is efficient. There is not one extra word or wasted sentence.

It is a masterful thing to be able to do to capture a concept and express it fully in under 100 pages.

Thanks to RB Media, HighBridge Audio, and Netgalley for a copy of FOSTER by Claire Keegan in exchange for an honest review!

Foster is out now!

FOSTER…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked this historical fiction short story. While this genre is not one of my loves, I stayed engaged the whole time and wanted more when it was over! Claire Keegan's writing of Foster was just that good.

Aoife McMahon's accent was slight but noticeable, in a good way. It brought more authenticity to the story.

Thank you to RB Media and HighBridge Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Perfectly written story that absolutely melted my heard. Read very well. I loved the lilt in her speech and of course the story was PERFECT

With very few pages, Keegan paints a vivid picture of grief, loyalty and family. In Foster, our unnamed narrator spends a summer with relatives because her family, impoverished and encumbered with too many children, cannot care for her. Through the compassion she receives from her relatives and encounters with busybody neighbors, the narrator learns about compassion and family.

On audio, the narration was top-notch.

The audiobook of ”Foster” was a pleasant experience. This novella is a story of a poor Irish girl in a large family who goes to live with more well off relatives for a short stretch of time. There are a lot of quiet lessons throughout the story and it was beautifully narrated.

FOSTER by celebrated and multi-awatd-winning author Claire Keegan may be short in length, but it is vast in story.

I had the pleasure to listen to FOSTER in audiobook format and I can honestly say that it was an absolute treat for the ears. Narrator Aoife McMahon's lyrical voice consists of a beautiful accent that lends authenticity to this historical tale.

Between Claire Keegan's considerable talent as a writer and the narration of Aoife McMahon, this is an audiobook not to be missed.

5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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. I only wish it was longer!! Thank you to Grove Press, RB Media and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this story.

I have never read Claire Keegan, but will now begin a search for her work. Foster is a luminous novella of an impoverished child sent to live with a family she has never met. She is greeted with an abundance of warmth, affection, and attention of which she has never experienced. Readers will reflect on the importance and significance of a kind word, a hand held, and the terrible damage that poverty inflicts on children and their families. Are all Irish writers poets? I think perhaps the Irish have a way with sparse and beautiful language which few others ever capture.

This was warm and heartbreaking. The narrator added a flair that made it all even better. It was preformed beautifully.
You can imagine this child finally finding a safe place to land and recover and then being thrust back home to chaos. She doesn't dislike her home or see any issue with it until she finally experiences love. The foster parents are happy to love her too.
This was perfection.
Thank you so much for letting me listen to it!

Sign me up to read anything that Claire Keegan writes. After enjoying her eloquent and impactful novella, "Small Things Like These", I was thrilled to check out her latest short story, "Foster," which has recently been released in the US. Foster is another small but mighty tale, and there is so much left unsaid. In some books, this can be frustrating. Here though, the reader can easily fill in the gaps to understand those final touches in the overall story Keegan is depicting.

A nameless young girl is taken from her large family into the Irish countryside to stay with relatives she's never met while her mother is heavily pregnant. For the first time, the girl wants for nothing. The couple that takes her in shows her kindness and compassion, and she experiences the small niceties of life like a warm bath for the first time.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of the book. It was obviously very quick and easy to read, but there was practically a different life lesson on every page. The narrator also did an excellent job of portraying the innocence of the child narrator. I know I'm going to revisit this one again.