- First published in 2010 this brilliant little novel, only 88 pages, has been unavailable in bookshops for nearly a decade. Now at last it's been re-issued in a new paperback edition, no doubt due to last year's realise of the film The Quiet Girl which is based on it. (The film is also superb by the way).
- Foster is a must-read. In fact it's widely regarded as a classic by literary critics all over the world, and that's hardly a surprise given Irish author Claire Keegan's genius. I was enthralled by her latest novel, Small Things Like These, published last year, so was keen to read Foster.
- In exquisitely subtle and gentle prose, an unnamed young girl tells her story. There's lots of dialogue between the handful of characters and their familiar, engaging Irish lilt drives the simple but very powerful story.
- The girl's mother is again pregnant - she already has three kids, and her husband is worse than useless as a father - so she asks her sister to care for the girl over summer. Her sister and her husband, the Kinsellas, are childless. Financially they are far better off than the girl's family.
- The girl is quiet and reticent at first but soon settles into a pattern on the dairy farm they own. The husband is also quiet at first but gradually he and the girl form a real bond. She also enjoys the electric appliances which are new to her - the refrigerator, freezer, vacuum cleaner, iron and other mod cons. The woman (the girl refers to her as ‘the woman’) bathes her, cleans her ears and brushes her hair. They eat healthy food. She helps the woman with the housework and cooking. They watch the 9pm news on TV. Visitors often come for card games. It's a warm, loving and respectful environment.
- At one point a nosey neighbour tells the girl that the Kinsellas had a boy who drowned. She now knows why her bedroom wallpaper is illustrated with cars, trucks and tractors.
- As the summer months proceed the husband, John, becomes more talkative and likeable. He forms a real bond with the girl. He takes her to the seashore, times her 100 metre or so runs to the postbox, which she really enjoys. She's also introduced to books.
- When it’s time for her to go home they drive her. They share an acute sense of sadness and loss. The last few pages of the novel are very emotional. Her father and her siblings are cold. As the Kinsellas drive away from her house she runs fast up the long driveway to embrace them. She realises she has discovered love and a real home. She hugs John, her ‘daddy’.
- Your tears will flood the final page.
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