Foster by Claire Keegan

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022--San Antonio

Foster by Claire Keegan is a very short book (under 100 pages), but one that was short listed as a finalist for the Booker Prize in 2022 and noted by The Times as one of the 50 best novels of this century so far.  It is the story of a young girl in Ireland whose age is not given but is young enough to be placed on the lap or shoulders of a man and old enough to have developed some basic reading skills.  She comes from a poor family with a father who drinks and gambles, with far too much too many children, and a mother who is expecting another baby during the summer the story takes place.  An aunt and an uncle have offered to take the girl to live with them during the summer as her mother deals with your pregnancy while also trying to keep the farm running, since the latter burden has fallen on her for years due to her husband's behavior.  The summer proves to be an awakening for the girl.  She is taught manners, she improves her reading to the point that she can read books on her own, she observes how others' lives are lived, she learns of a secret related to the family who is fostering her, and she matures--all while falling in love with the new family.  She returns to her own family so changed by the end of the summer that it is obvious that life will be a disappointment to her and a hardship for her--that she has lived through maybe the best time of her entire life already at such a young age.  I gave the book 5 stars out of 5.