Claire Keegan

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. Winner of the Davy Byrnes Memorial Prize, Foster is now published in a revised and expanded version. Beautiful, sad and eerie, it is a story of astonishing emotional depth, showcasing Claire Keegan's great accomplishment and talent.

Foster

Lotte Tielemans

I hold on as though I’ll drown if I let go, and listen to the woman who seems, in her throat, to be taking it in turns, sobbing and crying, as though she is crying not for one now, but for two.

My heart does not so much feel that it is in my chest as in my hands, and that I am carrying it along swiftly, as though I have become the messenger for what is going on inside of me.

I am in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be.

Essence

‘Where there's a secret,' she says, 'there's shame -and shame is something we can do without.’

Barbara

Where there's a secret, she says, there is shame, and shame is something we can do without.

"I am in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be."

"Strange things happen. She wants to find the good in others, and sometimes her way of finding that is to trust them, hoping she'll not be disappointed, but she sometimes is."

"Many's the man lost much just because he missed a perfect oppurtunity to say nothing."

"Do you know what the women have a gift for?"

"Eventualities. A good woman can look for down the line and smell what's coming before a man even gets a sniff of it."

it left me thinking, why is this world always so unfair to parents who are so ready and capable of taking care of their child very well, but somehow they always end up facing some tragedy that keeps them from having their child anymore? even when they get a miracle, it's not on their side? and why do those evil and bad parents, who aren’t capable of raising children financially and whose parenting is so damn bad, get some miracle to have lots of children, and it keeps increasing? why? just... why? when i knew the reason why the girl was taken care of by a new family, i literally jaw-dropped. i honestly feel pity for her because her biological family didn't even show her love. i think, as parents, especially a father, it’s important to have some little physical touch so the daughter feels loved, by holding her hand, hugging her when she needs it most, telling her stories, giving advice, and anything like that. the secret that unfolded about kinsella’s family was honestly so heartbreaking. i can't imagine what they went through at that time. but i’m glad she was taken care of with love and affection. the ending left me numb. the girl feels like the new parents are part of her life too. she loves them so much, and kinsella’s family without even realizing it also doesn’t want the girl to just disappear from their lives. they feel love for her as parents do for their daughters. and i think the girl chooses to trust her heart with kinsella. it shows the successful bonding; they taught her the love she hadn’t felt before. :( i hate the ending. in my head, the girl is kinsella's. no matter what. so, 5/5 for foster. ⭐️

love, kinanti

"I am in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be."

"Strange things happen. She wants to find the good in others, and sometimes her way of finding that is to trust them, hoping she'll not be disappointed, but she sometimes is."

 

"Many's the man lost much just because he missed a perfect oppurtunity to say nothing."

 

"Do you know what the women have a gift for?"

"What?"

"Eventualities. A good woman can look for down the line and smell what's coming before a man even gets a sniff of it."

 

it left me thinking, why is this world always so unfair to parents who are so ready and capable of taking care of their child very well, but somehow they always end up facing some tragedy that keeps them from having their child anymore? even when they get a miracle, it's not on their side? and why do those evil and bad parents, who aren’t capable of raising children financially and whose parenting is so damn bad, get some miracle to have lots of children, and it keeps increasing? why? just... why? when i knew the reason why the girl was taken care of by a new family, i literally jaw-dropped. i honestly feel pity for her because her biological family didn't even show her love. i think, as parents, especially a father, it’s important to have some little physical touch so the daughter feels loved, by holding her hand, hugging her when she needs it most, telling her stories, giving advice, and anything like that. the secret that unfolded about kinsella’s family was honestly so heartbreaking. i can't imagine what they went through at that time. but i’m glad she was taken care of with love and affection. the ending left me numb. the girl feels like the new parents are part of her life too. she loves them so much, and kinsella’s family without even realizing it also doesn’t want the girl to just disappear from their lives. they feel love for her as parents do for their daughters. and i think the girl chooses to trust her heart with kinsella. it shows the successful bonding; they taught her the love she hadn’t felt before. :( i hate the ending. in my head, the girl is kinsella's. no matter what. so, 5/5 for foster. ⭐️

I'm amending my review because after really going out of my way to read literary criticsm of this book, I'm realizing that's an indication I enjoyed it. I think this is a 4 star book, and feel I might rate it higher if I read the book rather than audiobooked it. The writing was so simple and really felt like the main character's POV (a child). It was so simple yet powerfully indicated what it was trying to say.

One quote which many point to in this book is "Kinsella takes my hand in his. As soon as he takes it, I realize my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won’t have to feel this. It’s a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be. He takes shorter steps so we can walk in time. I think about the woman in the cottage, of how she walked and spoke, and conclude that there are huge differences between people."

It was the embodiment childhoood innocence and a realization that helps the girl grow up and realize the differences in conditions she was raised. I think Claire Keegan is a modern literary legend. 

Ashley Denktas

I'm amending my review because after really going out of my way to read literary criticsm of this book, I'm realizing that's an indication I enjoyed it. I think this is a 4 star book, and feel I might rate it higher if I read the book rather than audiobooked it. The writing was so simple and really felt like the main character's POV (a child). It was so simple yet powerfully indicated what it was trying to say.

One quote which many point to in this book is "Kinsella takes my hand in his. As soon as he takes it, I realize my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won’t have to feel this. It’s a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be. He takes shorter steps so we can walk in time. I think about the woman in the cottage, of how she walked and spoke, and conclude that there are huge differences between people."

It was the embodiment childhoood innocence and a realization that helps the girl grow up and realize the differences in conditions she was raised. I think Claire Keegan is a modern literary legend. 

“I look out across the sea. There, the two lights are blinking as before, but with another, steady light, shining in between.”

shen

never knew a book so short could make me feel so much

emotional, melancholic, and evocative. foster is such a heart-breaking tale despite its short length

Kirsten Kim

James Wattie

Beautifully written story. Quick read. Lines I’ll remember for a while.

ren corr

tori

Beautifully written, and I hope to reread this again one day. Sometimes we only get to experience a certain kind of love for a short while, but it profoundly changes us and our world view.

This is a stunning novella by Claire Keegan. She packs a punch in writing about simple domestic life in Ireland where you see the heart and heartbreak of everyday people. I loved it.

Foster

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