Foster is a novella about a child’s summer spent with distant relatives. The child, one of her parents’ many children living in poverty, is enamored by the comfortable life the Kinsellas lead – and the amount of love they have for a child who is not their own.

In terms of sheer writing ability, this might be the best novella I’ve ever read. Keegan can write; that much is incredibly clear in the prose. The character development is strong, and though it makes up less than 100 pages, you can see a marked difference by the end. I sometimes find the pacing of novellas to be either dragged-out short stories or compressed novels, but Foster straddles this line perfectly. It is the correct length for the story Keegan is telling, no more, no less – exactly as it should be.

This is the first of Keegan’s work that I have read, and it certainly will not be the last. I can’t say I’ve read anything this poignant in a long time. I’d recommend this for just about any reader who enjoys literary fiction.

Thank you to Grove Press and Edelweiss for providing a copy for review.