Our book club read Claire Keegan’s Foster this month, and it’s the type of book that continues to settle in you over the days and weeks after you finish it. The cover is riddled with blurbs like, “A small miracle,” or “A thing of finely honed beauty,” or even, “As good as Chekhov.” In my opinion, they’re not wrong.
Foster is simply the story of a young girl who goes to live with a married couple for a short period of time. A foster placement, if you will. Although the events of the story are straightforward, you can see so much brewing under the surface of the daily life of these three characters.
That’s Keegan’s greatest skill. She’s incredibly sparse with her words, yet she manages to tell complicated, rich, layered stories. As an editor, I found myself convicted as I read this book. There were places I would have found myself saying, “You need to add more here” or “You should probably write one more chapter to close this storyline more tightly.”
But after reading two of her books now, I’ve realized Keegan’s gift for trusting her reader. And in return, it makes the reader look at every detail in her stories for meaning and purpose. Nothing is wasted. Every word on the page matters.
Rating: Would read again! Buy it.
Rating Scale:
Would read again! Buy it.
Loved it!
Liked it. Maybe just get it at the library.
Didn’t love it.
Didn’t finish it.
As of this posting, Foster is on sale for $7 off on Amazon. I also highly recommend Small Things Like These, which is now a movie starring Cillian Murphy. Read the book first.
Spilled Milk 
