Foster: by the Booker-shortlisted author of Small Things Like These Paperback – 18 August 2022

Claire Keegan writes with a sense of ease, that a reader can make out from the first sentence. There is no sense of urgency or hurry to her craft. She gives it time, gives time to words, and to the sentences to breathe. Her characters linger, even loiter with their thoughts – consequential or not, doesn’t matter – they ponder nonetheless. Their emotions are not spelled out every single time.At one point, Mr. Kinsella tells the child in the book, ‘You don’t ever have to say anything,’ he says. ‘Always remember that as a thing you need never do. Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.’ And this to me made so much sense. Keegan writes with a self-confidence that is unassuming and rare, just like two of my other favourite writers, Anita Desai and Ann Patchett.What is Foster about?Well, it is about what the title says, a young girl comes to live with the Kinsellas, during a hot Irish summer, and how her life changes, as she begins to understand and learn a new way of living, filled with emotions, the daily routine, and small acts of kindness. It is a book about family, and what we perhaps do not understand, till we do. In this short novelette of 90 pages, Keegan gives us the world of a child, and two adults trying to cope with living, till they find comfort in each other.Foster is a book I will not stop recommending. Read it for its beauty, its slowness, its tenderness, and above all its eye for empathy and kindness in the world. Read it for its grace in the prose, and for all the silences it holds.

Beautiful writing, heartfelt emotions, realistic characters. You’ll want more at the end. But you’ll also realize that you have acquired far more than the 90-odd pages contain.I loved the three main characters: the child and the two foster parents. Keegan sketches their personalities in a striking way without going into details. It is only with every subsequent scene that you begin to put a picture of what might be the backstory of the characters.The writing is, as always, poetic without being over the top. Keegan maintains in her scenes the perfect balance between description and conversation, never allowing one to overpower the other. She is also true to the national identity of the characters, and retains the Irish lilt in their lines. The child’s emotions of awe and worry and fear and comfort come out well through the first person rendition. The story is medium-paced, and it would be better if you read it slower to get the exact sense of what’s happening. Keegan’s books are never to be skip-read.The bittersweet ending left my heart longing for more. Though I know it was the only possible ending for this story, one can still wish that fiction worked better than reality and gave the girl an ending she deserved instead of an ending she was destined to have.All in all, this isn’t a story that will leave you easily. It isn’t perfect, but it is striking in its writing and memorable in its characters. Definitely worth a read.4.25 stars.Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book at my request and these are my honest thoughts about it.

It is one of those stories where nothing much really happens but the little tender interactions among the characters will make you cry. Loved Claire Keegan's writing, so subtle yet effectively makes you feel all the emotions. I kept thinking about this story for days after I finished reading it.

The media could not be loaded. Very good quality, the outside cover especially feels good to the touch.However, the font size could have been smaller reducing page count and making the book a little cheaper, but that's me just being picky I guess. The hardcover for ₹1660 seems a little expensive for a little under 100 pages. There's also a fifteen page (2 chapters) excerpt from "Small things like these", a book from the same author; this seemed very unnecessary and seems to just be there to increase the page count.

Mesmerizing...

I like how the author describes mundane things with such eloquence. The writing is very good,but somehow the story didn't match up to my expectations.

Loved the sensitive subject, characters. In the end, would have loved to have a longer story… Looking forward to other titles by the author…

Excellent