---
product_id: 485423077
title: "Foster"
price: "£14.38"
currency: GBP
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/485423077-foster
store_origin: GB
region: United Kingdom
---

# Foster

**Price:** £14.38
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Foster
- **How much does it cost?** £14.38 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/485423077-foster)

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- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
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## Description

An international bestseller and one of The Times’ “Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century,” Claire Keegan’s piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas’ house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household—where everything is so well tended to—and this summer must soon come to an end. Winner of the prestigious Davy Byrnes Award and published in an abridged version in the New Yorker , this internationally bestselling contemporary classic is now available for the first time in the US in a full, standalone edition. A story of astonishing emotional depth, Foster showcases Claire Keegan’s great talent and secures her reputation as one of our most important storytellers.

Review: Compassion, understanding, and what makes us human - Irish writer Claire Keegan writes stories like Johannes Vermeer painted paintings: interior scenes, perfectly drawn, with far more going on than what first meets the eye. Whether you’re reading a Keegan novel or standing before “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” when you finish and walk away you simply say, “Yes.” I discovered this when I read Keegan’s “Small Things Like These,” the story of a coal hauler doing his regular delivery at a convent when he discovers a young girl shivering outside and discovers he has walked into something else entirely. Keegan moves comfortably into her characters’ skins, and the reader becomes almost one with the story. In Keegan’s short novel Foster, a young girl doesn’t entirely understand what is happening when her father brings her to the home of an older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kinsella. The girl’s mother is in the final months of pregnancy, the house is already full of children, and the family has the opportunity to park her with a childless couple. The girl discovers a life very different from her own, a life of regular baths, daily changes of clothes, trips to get ice cream, and a couple who love her from the moment she walks in their door. She also discovers something of a mystery, like why she’s initially given the clothes of a boy. And there’s something about the well from which water is drawn. In the day-to-day life of this couple and the girl, the story unfolds. Gradually she discovers how to live a different life, and she will soon come to understand what happened in the family. The story unfolds perfectly; Keegan is one gifted storyteller. Keegan is best known for her short stories, which have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, Granta, Best American Short Stories, and The Paris Review, among others. Her writing has won numerous awards and recognitions, including the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the William Trevor Prize, and several short story awards. She studied English and political science at Loyola University in New Orleans, received a M.S. degree in creative writing at the University of Wales, and a M.Phil degree from Trinity College Dublin. She lives in rural Ireland. I didn’t know if I could like a Keegan story better than I liked “Small These Like These,” but “Foster” dispelled any doubts I had. From beginning to end, it’s a story of compassion, understanding, and what makes us human.
Review: A beautiful book - Loved this book - it was so beautifully written :)

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #4,041 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #30 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books) #74 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #496 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 21,129 Reviews |

## Images

![Foster - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71UX0jsvZjL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Compassion, understanding, and what makes us human
*by G***G on August 27, 2025*

Irish writer Claire Keegan writes stories like Johannes Vermeer painted paintings: interior scenes, perfectly drawn, with far more going on than what first meets the eye. Whether you’re reading a Keegan novel or standing before “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” when you finish and walk away you simply say, “Yes.” I discovered this when I read Keegan’s “Small Things Like These,” the story of a coal hauler doing his regular delivery at a convent when he discovers a young girl shivering outside and discovers he has walked into something else entirely. Keegan moves comfortably into her characters’ skins, and the reader becomes almost one with the story. In Keegan’s short novel Foster, a young girl doesn’t entirely understand what is happening when her father brings her to the home of an older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kinsella. The girl’s mother is in the final months of pregnancy, the house is already full of children, and the family has the opportunity to park her with a childless couple. The girl discovers a life very different from her own, a life of regular baths, daily changes of clothes, trips to get ice cream, and a couple who love her from the moment she walks in their door. She also discovers something of a mystery, like why she’s initially given the clothes of a boy. And there’s something about the well from which water is drawn. In the day-to-day life of this couple and the girl, the story unfolds. Gradually she discovers how to live a different life, and she will soon come to understand what happened in the family. The story unfolds perfectly; Keegan is one gifted storyteller. Keegan is best known for her short stories, which have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, Granta, Best American Short Stories, and The Paris Review, among others. Her writing has won numerous awards and recognitions, including the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the William Trevor Prize, and several short story awards. She studied English and political science at Loyola University in New Orleans, received a M.S. degree in creative writing at the University of Wales, and a M.Phil degree from Trinity College Dublin. She lives in rural Ireland. I didn’t know if I could like a Keegan story better than I liked “Small These Like These,” but “Foster” dispelled any doubts I had. From beginning to end, it’s a story of compassion, understanding, and what makes us human.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A beautiful book
*by P***R on May 13, 2026*

Loved this book - it was so beautifully written :)

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful story, abrupt end
*by N***E on December 27, 2022*

This is a quick read, but it is well written and will stay with me for a while. So much of the story seems to be a simple telling of the life of a girl taken to stay with an aunt and uncle, escaping her impoverished life with her family for a short time, but there is so much meaning within the simple story that you can’t help but connect deeply with the characters. The ending is abrupt and I wasn’t ready for it, but it is thought-provoking and brings into focus all that has gone before it. I recommend this book.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Foster
- Small Things Like These (Oprah's Book Club)
- So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men

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*Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom*
*Store origin: GB*
*Last updated: 2026-05-27*