8 /10 1 Votes8
Country Ireland Media type Print Originally published September 2010 Page count 88 ISBN 9780571255658 | 4/5 Goodreads Pages 88 Original language English Genres Short story, Novella | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publication date 10 February 2010 (short)September 2010 Awards Davy Byrne's Irish Writing Award Publishers Faber and Faber, The New Yorker (short version) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Foster" is a short story or novella by Irish author Claire Keegan.
Contents
Plot
1981, County Wexford, Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house she finds affection she has not known before, and slowly she begins to blossom in their care. But when a secret is suddenly revealed, she realizes how fragile her idyll is.
Reception
"Foster" has received a very positive reception, winning the 2009 Davy Byrne's Irish Writing Award (it was submitted for the award prior to publication). The Daily Telegraph compared it to the work of Seamus Heaney and William Trevor, while The Observer called it "Among the finest stories written recently in English." It is now on the English syllabus for the Leaving Certificate Examination.
Adaptation
An audio version of "Foster" was broadcast on BBC Radio 4's "Afternoon Reading" on 9 March 2015, read by Irish actress Evanna Lynch.