Review of FOSTER
Another perfect novella from Claire Keegan ...
The dangers of reading a writer’s oeuvre after falling in love with one novel is legion. It is a well-traveled path of disappointment. Claire Keagan’s Small Things Like These was the great surprise of last year and I bought Foster but chickened out and gave it to Jeannie to read on an airplane. It is even shorter than Small Things Like These and Jeannie polished it off before we landed, tears in her eyes, turning back to page one to begin a reread. Before I ordered it, I read that it won a prestigious award for the best novella of the year. It certainly wins my award for whatever year that was. It is a stunningly emotional read, packed with sincerity and the presence of a grace that seems to be the unique gift of Claire Keegan. The narrator’s young girl’s voice is pitch perfect on every page. I held my breath through its achingly short length. Buy it. Sit down. Finish it.
Foster
Claire Keegan
2010 92 pages