The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Keegan, Claire. Foster. Grove Press, 2010.

Keegan divides her novella into 8 chapters that take place over the course of a single summer within rural Ireland. The main character, who serves as the novella’s first-person narrator, is a roughly 10-year-old girl who remains nameless throughout.

The novella begins with the main character’s father driving her to the house of a family of relatives called the Kinsellas as she begins to wonder at what her life there will look like. Upon their arrival, he spends some time with them all together, explaining their family dynamic (the main character has many siblings), tells lies about how their family farm is doing, and leaves without saying goodbye to the main character. Mrs. Kinsella takes good care of her upon her father’s departure, bathing her and showing her around the family home and garden. She eventually lays down to sleep for the night and is tormented by anxiety in the night. She wakes up in a wet bed, and we are unsure if she had an accident or if it is just down to the dampness of the room and environment.

The next day, they begin to establish domestic routines as a “family unit” of sorts, Mr. Kinsella challenging her to run to the mail as fast as she can in the hopes that they can improve her speed while she stays there. The main character seems to perk up and seem livelier. She continues to settle into a groove living with the two Kinsellas, outlining the life she leads there, consisting of assisting with chores by day and hearing gatherings and card playing in the home at night from upstairs in her bedroom. Soon, the Kinsellas take her to Gorey, the nearby town, to buy clothes for her to wear different from the ones the Kinsellas mysteriously already have in the house. On the way home after, they encounter a woman named Mrs. Redmond at their door, who says that someone named Michael has died and they need help digging the grave.

The Kinsellas and the main character accompany Mrs. Redmond back to her home, where a wake is ongoing. During the wake, another woman named Mildred volunteers to take the main character back to her house until the Kinsellas are ready to go. Mildred’s manner seems somewhat judgmental, and she probes into the main character’s life with the Kinsellas before telling her that the Kinsellas had a son who died tragically in an accident on their property. The Kinsellas pick the main character back up and learn that she now knows about their son. Mr. Kinsella takes her to the beach and they talk about Mrs. Kinsella and share a moment bonding closely, like father and daughter.

Mail comes then that explains that the main character has a new sibling at home, and it’s soon time for her to return. On one of her last days, she goes down to the well alone and falls in, making her way back home soaking wet. Mrs. Kinsella takes care of her very alertly after the fact, but she is completely unharmed. They take the main character back home a couple of days later and have an uncomfortable and somewhat tense meeting with her family. As the Kinsellas drive off, the main character runs back toward their car and embraces Mr. Kinsella while he closes the gate as her own father walks on toward them.