“This water is cool and clean as anything I have ever tasted: it tastes of my father leaving, of him never having been there, of having nothing after he was gone. I dip it again and lift it level with the sunlight. I drink six measures of water and wish, for now, that this place without shame or secrets could be my home.” - from Foster, p. 22
One of my favorite writers, George Saunders, recently gave a shout-out to Claire Keegan’s novella Foster on his Substack, describing it as “one of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever read.” (By the by, if you aren’t already a Story Clubber and have an interest in the writing side of fiction, I strongly recommend checking out George’s Substack Story Club either as a free or paid subscriber.) Knowing George has read an awful lot of truly excellent stories, I checked the book out almost immediately and was not disappointed.
Told by a young girl whose parents leave her to spend the summer with an aunt and uncle she doesn’t know very well, the story is strongly grounded in its rural Ireland setting but has a somewhat timeless quality, with minimal markers to signify a particular decade beyond the presence of cars and electric fences. A haunting uncertainty hangs over the story, as the reasons behind why the parents seem to be abandoning the girl—and why the aunt and uncle have taken on caring for her—slowly become clear.
Clocking in at ninety-two pages with decent margins, the piece is very much suited to being read in one sitting, creating a dream-like, immersive effect. A shorter version ran in the New Yorker in 2010 as well, but I found the novella version well worth the time. While it’s not a page-turner in the conventional sense, the story pulled me in quickly and didn’t let me go. It’s expertly crafted at the micro- and macro-levels, with persuasive, intriguing characters and a quiet but emotionally resonant arc. Keegan is a master of show, don’t tell, and I enjoyed reading between the lines of characters’ words and actions to piece together the underlying dynamics. The style is similar to Kent Haruf’s Plainsong, but the story is narrower in focus and more tightly woven.
If you haven’t come across it already, this is a story that is well worth a couple hours of an evening or an afternoon. Whatever you do, plan to read it in one sitting; you might not be able to put it down once you start.
P.S. My review of Megan Tady’s debut novel Super Bloom was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last weekend in case you want to check it out!
Grat you are busy . Just read reviews Super Bloom and Foster. Nice plan on reading them this summer. Congratulations Jules. Best
Recommended this highly by George Saunders and Jules Fitz Gerald -- I must read it! Gorgeous review, and congratulations on your review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette! I just read it as well, and you have a knack for making me immediately want to read what you're reviewing.