Foster

by Claire Keegan

Keegan’s writing is so hard to write about. Simple and straightforward, yet inevitably steeped in something potentially sinister. As sparse as the lives of the poor farmers in rural Ireland, this novella is written from the POV of a (nameless) young girl sent away to stay with relatives while her mother has yet another baby. Her story is told through objective observation, both naïve and wise, as she experiences loving warmth, companionship, and inclusion in a way she never has before. Heartbreaking in itself, made more so by the knowledge that she will have to return home and leave all this behind. And right on the last page, in the last sentence, the disaster that has been in the back of our minds suddenly takes place. I wish I could work out how Keegan creates such creeping anxiety. Terrific.