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Ellen Foster #1
Ellen Foster
One of the most talked-about and endearing first novels in years bears the story of a female Huck Finn and her search for a true home. (Oprah's Book Club)
Hardcover
First published January 21, 1987
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About the author
Kaye Gibbons
45 books576 followersKaye Gibbons is an American novelist. Her first novel, Ellen Foster (1987), received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Special Citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and the Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Prize in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gibbons is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and two of her books, Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman, were selected for Oprah's Book Club in 1998.
Gibbons was born in Nash County, North Carolina, and went to Rocky Mount Senior High School. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. She has three daughters.
Gibbons has bipolar disorder and notes that she is extremely creative during her manic phases, in which she believes that everything is instrumented by a "real magic". Ellen Foster was written during one such phase.
On November 2, 2008, Gibbons was arrested on prescription drug fraud charges. According to authorities, she was taken into custody while trying to pick up a fraudulent prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone. She was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence, 2 years probation, and a $300 fine.
Gibbons was born in Nash County, North Carolina, and went to Rocky Mount Senior High School. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. She has three daughters.
Gibbons has bipolar disorder and notes that she is extremely creative during her manic phases, in which she believes that everything is instrumented by a "real magic". Ellen Foster was written during one such phase.
On November 2, 2008, Gibbons was arrested on prescription drug fraud charges. According to authorities, she was taken into custody while trying to pick up a fraudulent prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone. She was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence, 2 years probation, and a $300 fine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,981 reviews
April 21, 2015
This is a short but powerful and a lot of the time a painful story . Ellen Foster is a precocious eleven year old girl whose courage and strength and infinite wisdom carry her through things that no child should bear .
I wanted to pull Ellen out of those pages and take care of her , get her away from her alcoholic father who for the most part has abandoned her and her miserable grandmother who takes her in for a period of time. But ultimately it's Ellen who pulled me up from the despair I felt for her as she tries to find that safe and comfortable home she wants so badly . I loved how she cared about her little friend Starletta and knew so much more than the adults around her about equality .
If you have had this on your to read list for a while , you should read it . If you don't have it on your list you should read it anyway . Just a beautiful little story with so much to give .
November 21, 2018
“When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy.” That's quite an opening line!
I chose this book because I was wanting to read classic-American-literature and was also hovering around award-winners. This novella is both.
Ellen has survived a childhood filled with abuse and neglect, yet her spirit never fails. She has a results-oriented, get-it-done attitude which causes her to hatch a plan... she's going to find herself a new family.
There are so many beautiful moments within this story, made all the more beautiful when contrasted against the difficult ones. It was interesting to learn why Ellen had given herself the last name of Foster. Her 11-year-old mind did not yet understand that a "foster family" was not a family with the last name of Foster. 😊
It's those types of sweet moments that will touch your heart. I found this story to be more heart-warming than heart-breaking. Ellen will stay with me for a very long time.
I chose this book because I was wanting to read classic-American-literature and was also hovering around award-winners. This novella is both.
Ellen has survived a childhood filled with abuse and neglect, yet her spirit never fails. She has a results-oriented, get-it-done attitude which causes her to hatch a plan... she's going to find herself a new family.
There are so many beautiful moments within this story, made all the more beautiful when contrasted against the difficult ones. It was interesting to learn why Ellen had given herself the last name of Foster. Her 11-year-old mind did not yet understand that a "foster family" was not a family with the last name of Foster. 😊
It's those types of sweet moments that will touch your heart. I found this story to be more heart-warming than heart-breaking. Ellen will stay with me for a very long time.
February 9, 2009
I've read lots of reviews of this book that were really positive. All the quotes on the book itself are of course glowing with praise. It was an Oprah's Book Club selection. It got published. A friend chose it for book club. Many people apparently think this is a really amazing book. I'm not exactly sure what I'm missing here. I didn't hate it, but I was just kind of bored and not impressed. The good thing is that it was a very short and easy book to read so I didn't feel like I wasted a lot of time. If you want to read a book about poverty, abuse, and a dysfunctional family in the South with a girl that manages to get through it all successfully, I would highly recommend "The Glass Castle." That's good reading. This just seemed overly simplistic and tidy. There were so many details missing. With all the talk about race, it seems strange that I was confused for for a lot of the book about what race the main character even was. I didn't feel like I really got a grasp on any of the characters. I'll be interested to go to book club and get an idea of what I'm missing here, because I seem to be in the minority.
March 18, 2015
It is hard not to fall in love with 11 year old Ellen Foster as she narrates her struggles thru her young life of abuse and repeated disappointments in search of a safe home and someone to love her. She is so brave and bright and mature for her age, and will make you laugh in spite of it all. Great book!
December 1, 2016
This would make a great book club pick. It’s a quick read and simply told, but with a lot of depth, and a powerful opening line that is a real attention grabber. Ellen Foster is only 11 years old but is an “old soul” and there is a lot to be learned from her character. The story is told through her voice and the author really gets into her head giving a sense for all she is thinking and feeling. I felt it softened the tone coming from her perspective, but it really makes you think about the lifelong effects of child abuse. I normally have a hard time reading about this topic because I find it so distressing but Ellen’s character is so charming and feisty that it was hard not to root for her in her search for a “new mama”. Naturally there is sadness, but it’s ultimately an uplifting story about finding strength through adversity. I found it particularly touching how she came about the name of Ellen Foster. 4 stars.
March 6, 2015
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."
Ellen Foster grabs you with that first paragraph, and doesn't let go as she narrates her story. Told with humor and honesty, the orphaned girl learns what is important about people in a rural southern town in the 1970s. It's not possessions or the color of their skin, but the goodness in their hearts.
Even though Ellen's childhood has been terribly difficult, she finally finds herself in a good, safe situation. She realizes that her black friend Starletta has even more to overcome, since racial prejudices do not change quickly.
This slim volume about a self-reliant eleven-year-old packs quite a punch. The book is semi-autobiographical, based on Kaye Gibbons' challenging childhood in North Carolina.
Interesting interview of Kaye Gibbons by the Star Tribune. It does contain some spoilers since she talks about her childhood.
http://www.startribune.com/entertainm...
Ellen Foster grabs you with that first paragraph, and doesn't let go as she narrates her story. Told with humor and honesty, the orphaned girl learns what is important about people in a rural southern town in the 1970s. It's not possessions or the color of their skin, but the goodness in their hearts.
Even though Ellen's childhood has been terribly difficult, she finally finds herself in a good, safe situation. She realizes that her black friend Starletta has even more to overcome, since racial prejudices do not change quickly.
This slim volume about a self-reliant eleven-year-old packs quite a punch. The book is semi-autobiographical, based on Kaye Gibbons' challenging childhood in North Carolina.
Interesting interview of Kaye Gibbons by the Star Tribune. It does contain some spoilers since she talks about her childhood.
http://www.startribune.com/entertainm...
March 14, 2015
Ellen Foster is like Scout Finch without the support system of Atticus, Jem, and Calpurnia. She's funny, courageous, level-headed, fair-minded and intelligent. With very little help from anyone, she gets herself out of a very bad situation and into a good one and teaches herself some valuable lessons along the way. I love Ellen Foster.
February 11, 2020
Ellen Foster is a tale of survival, courage and endurance. Ellen is one of the bravest eleven year olds I have ever encountered in literature, wise beyond her years, but innocent and sweet and deserving of better.
When she says, “My daddy was a mistake for a person.”, she could not be more right. In fact, many of the people she encounters in her short life seem to be mistakes, but she also finds hope and gets glimpses of what might be, and the determined soul that she is, she fights to have that better life be her reality.
The book is written entirely in Ellen’s voice, and it is both honest and genuine.
I know I have made being in the garden with her into a regular event but she was really only well like that for one season. You see if you tell yourself the same tale over and over again enough times then the tellings become separate stories and you will generally fool yourself into forgetting you only started with one solitary season out of your life.
Can you imagine having to hold on that tight to one memory and making it the central one so that the reality, that is so much the opposite, does not overwhelm you? I loved that she was able to do this, even though she clearly knows that is what she is doing.
With most novels written from the child’s perspective, we have an unreliable narrator and must fish for the truths that lie beneath what the child sees but cannot understand. Ellen is nothing if not reliable. She sees the truth so much more clearly than the adults around her do, and she clings to the thing inside her that makes her herself and keeps her strong.
So many folks thinking and wanting you to be somebody else will confuse you if you are not very careful.
This is my first book by Kaye Gibbons. I have had several of them on my TBR for a long time and one sitting on my physical bookshelf that I have managed not to read yet. I will not hesitate to read her again. This was her first novel, so I have every reason to expect she can only get better--and better than this would be some accomplishment indeed.
When she says, “My daddy was a mistake for a person.”, she could not be more right. In fact, many of the people she encounters in her short life seem to be mistakes, but she also finds hope and gets glimpses of what might be, and the determined soul that she is, she fights to have that better life be her reality.
The book is written entirely in Ellen’s voice, and it is both honest and genuine.
I know I have made being in the garden with her into a regular event but she was really only well like that for one season. You see if you tell yourself the same tale over and over again enough times then the tellings become separate stories and you will generally fool yourself into forgetting you only started with one solitary season out of your life.
Can you imagine having to hold on that tight to one memory and making it the central one so that the reality, that is so much the opposite, does not overwhelm you? I loved that she was able to do this, even though she clearly knows that is what she is doing.
With most novels written from the child’s perspective, we have an unreliable narrator and must fish for the truths that lie beneath what the child sees but cannot understand. Ellen is nothing if not reliable. She sees the truth so much more clearly than the adults around her do, and she clings to the thing inside her that makes her herself and keeps her strong.
So many folks thinking and wanting you to be somebody else will confuse you if you are not very careful.
This is my first book by Kaye Gibbons. I have had several of them on my TBR for a long time and one sitting on my physical bookshelf that I have managed not to read yet. I will not hesitate to read her again. This was her first novel, so I have every reason to expect she can only get better--and better than this would be some accomplishment indeed.
July 18, 2018
I bought this book around 2006-2009 and it was just laying there on my book stack. I just read 2-3 pages and lost interest. After several years, I found this book on my storage and put it out to try if it can capture my interest now. Thank goodness that I gave this book a chance because I can't put it down once I start to read it. I was just busy so it was hard for me to finish reading it right away.
Ellen is not your conventional type of kid because she thinks and speaks in a manner that is not like her age. I really find her story very interesting from what happened to her mom's overdosed until she finally found her adoptive mother.
I was not surprised that this book has a fair rating here and that there are several reviews who didn't find this book to their liking. The way it was written was not that easy to understand due to the way how Ellen tells her story. Ellen's way of speaking is sort of unintelligible that's why I lost interest then. But who could have thought that this incomprehensible way of Ellen could make the book unique and quite engaging to read.
Ellen is not your conventional type of kid because she thinks and speaks in a manner that is not like her age. I really find her story very interesting from what happened to her mom's overdosed until she finally found her adoptive mother.
I was not surprised that this book has a fair rating here and that there are several reviews who didn't find this book to their liking. The way it was written was not that easy to understand due to the way how Ellen tells her story. Ellen's way of speaking is sort of unintelligible that's why I lost interest then. But who could have thought that this incomprehensible way of Ellen could make the book unique and quite engaging to read.
October 20, 2020
What is a strong spirit? Ellen Foster, the eleven year old narrator of this book, exemplifies what such a spirit is. Through seemingly insurmountable hardships- a nearly loveless early childhood, rejection, an abusive father and a mentally ill mother, and poverty, she is able to find strength and courage to seek out the life she knows she deserves. She is a survivor, forthright and wise.
Ellen's narration is sometimes compared to that of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in The Rye and Scout's in To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is a valid comparison. All three young narrators are precocious, honest, and appealing. They have very different backgrounds, very different concerns, and very different family situations. All three are reliable narrators; all see things many adults are blind to or refuse to see. Ellen, Scout, and Holden are refreshing in their honesty and youth; their voices resonate with warmth and subtle humor.
Ellen Foster was written in 1987. Unfortunately, many of the problems Ellen faced are still very prevalent. Not all children in similar situations have the perception of this young girl nor the indomitable spirit to rise above. Too many never have the opportunity to encounter a less cruel world. I cheered for Ellen, but I remain saddened by the fact that many children today will not have the chance to escape their impoverished and/or abusive childhoods. Our society can do better.
Ellen's narration is sometimes compared to that of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in The Rye and Scout's in To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is a valid comparison. All three young narrators are precocious, honest, and appealing. They have very different backgrounds, very different concerns, and very different family situations. All three are reliable narrators; all see things many adults are blind to or refuse to see. Ellen, Scout, and Holden are refreshing in their honesty and youth; their voices resonate with warmth and subtle humor.
Ellen Foster was written in 1987. Unfortunately, many of the problems Ellen faced are still very prevalent. Not all children in similar situations have the perception of this young girl nor the indomitable spirit to rise above. Too many never have the opportunity to encounter a less cruel world. I cheered for Ellen, but I remain saddened by the fact that many children today will not have the chance to escape their impoverished and/or abusive childhoods. Our society can do better.
November 26, 2015
Old Ellen is how this 11 year old refers to herself, and as the reviewer on the back of the book cover says, "she's as much a part of the backwoods South as a Faulkner character--and a good deal more endearing". She tells her story in the first person and in the first sentence of the book she says, "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my Daddy". She meant it too, and believe me, he deserved it. Her family was about as rotten as any family I have come across in literature. What a read, I would recommend it to anyone. I give it 4.5 stars.
December 27, 2015
This is the first-person story of Ellen Foster, a ten- to eleven-year-old Southern girl whose mother commits suicide with the agreement of her abusive father. Ellen is tough, smart, and a survivor. After she is sent from the happy foster home of her art teacher to her "mama's mama," a mean old woman, she says, ". . . it was just her and me. Me to look after her not the other way around like you might expect. That did not surprise me because I had just about given up on what you expect. I just lived to see what would happen next."
In a NY Times article about author Kaye Gibbons' problems with mental illness, her editor is quoted as saying "Kaye is constitutionally incapable of falseness. Every word that flows from her lips is true." You can feel the truth of her truth in every word of this wonderful book.
Here's the publisher's book page: http://algonquin.com/book/ellen-foster/
In a NY Times article about author Kaye Gibbons' problems with mental illness, her editor is quoted as saying "Kaye is constitutionally incapable of falseness. Every word that flows from her lips is true." You can feel the truth of her truth in every word of this wonderful book.
Here's the publisher's book page: http://algonquin.com/book/ellen-foster/
May 24, 2022
Little gem of a book and ultimately a very clever story about a horribly abused and neglected foster child. Ellen is incredibly resilient and she’s determined to find herself a loving home. The story isn’t depressing at all despite what its content would suggest. Loved this book.
August 21, 2023
I read 2 of this authors books years ago and didn't like her stories. But I decided to try once more. I still don't like them. I just Don't like books about dysfunctional families. Dysfunctional people is 1 thing, families is quite a different story.
July 12, 2007
The first line of Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons reads: "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." Wow! Talk about a powerful hook! Eleven year old Ellen has been through more than any child should experience. Her father is alcoholic and abusive toward Ellen's mother. Ellen just about raises herself in this dysfunctional household, the "hero" in the alcoholic family. After her mother dies, she goes to live with her teacher and things would have been fine except her grandmother interferes and gets custody of her. The grandmother blames her for the death of her mother, grandma's daughter...as if the poor kid hasn't been through enough as it is. To add to the misery, grandma dies and Helen has to move on yet again, this time to an aunt that doesn't really want her. Ellen sets about finding herself a new family. She has a refreshing voice. I read that she has been compared to Holden Caulfield but I wouldn't go that far. She's a lot more resourceful and "together" than Holden was, a truly admirable character. Now I want to read Gibbons' other books!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2013
3.5 I loved this book pretty much from the first sentence, but it was this sentence that entrenched Ellen in my heart. ""What did you expect? Marry trash and see what comes of you. I could have told anybody." No young child should ever have the wisdom or the knowledge to say such a thing, and this perfectly explains how her life had been with her drunken father and sick mother.
This novel is in turn heartbreaking and amusing. Some of the things she says, the way she views things through her own special lens, filtered by her experiences alone. an amazingly short book but a powerful one.
This novel is in turn heartbreaking and amusing. Some of the things she says, the way she views things through her own special lens, filtered by her experiences alone. an amazingly short book but a powerful one.
March 17, 2015
What did I think? That's the question asked when reviewing a book on Goodreads. I freakin' loved it. It is now on my favorite shelf. I loved how she wished for eyes in the back of her head and she thought her head size was "just this side of a defect", how she gave herself a new name and how she "lived to see what would happen next". Ellen Foster her story, her voice....what is there not to love about this 10 year old?
December 5, 2019
This book was beautifully written. I cried at the end...it was so so touching.
December 15, 2015
This was a random library book sale purchase, chosen almost entirely for the title. I set aside my usual dislike of child narrators and found an enjoyable voice-driven novella about a fiesty ten-year-old who loses both her parents (good riddance to her father, at least) and finds her own unconventional family after cycling through the homes of some truly horrid relatives. Just as an example, her maternal grandmother sends her out to work picking cotton.
The book is set in the South, presumably in the 1970s or 80s, so it’s alarming to see how strong racial prejudice still was; Ellen almost feels compelled to look down on her best friend, a black girl named Starletta, but can’t deny she’s drawn to her. “Sometimes I even think I was cut out to be colored and I got bleached and sent to the wrong bunch of folks.”
You could breeze through this one in an afternoon. I don’t quite see why it got so many accolades when it came out in 1987, but then again I’m not a huge fan of either child narrators or Southern fiction. Read it for the title character’s voice and the sweetly naïve story of how she got her name.
Favorite lines: “The day [God] made my daddy he was not thinking straight. … my family never was the kind that would fit into a handy category.”
The book is set in the South, presumably in the 1970s or 80s, so it’s alarming to see how strong racial prejudice still was; Ellen almost feels compelled to look down on her best friend, a black girl named Starletta, but can’t deny she’s drawn to her. “Sometimes I even think I was cut out to be colored and I got bleached and sent to the wrong bunch of folks.”
You could breeze through this one in an afternoon. I don’t quite see why it got so many accolades when it came out in 1987, but then again I’m not a huge fan of either child narrators or Southern fiction. Read it for the title character’s voice and the sweetly naïve story of how she got her name.
Favorite lines: “The day [God] made my daddy he was not thinking straight. … my family never was the kind that would fit into a handy category.”
May 27, 2016
Ellen Foster, the child and narrator of this novel, is a wonderful creation. She is everything that an adult would like to believe about an abused child being able to flourish once free. The author makes it believable that Ellen, at eleven, twelve and thirteen, has the clarity of mind and freedom from emotion to recount her traumatizing life with full memory, matter-of-factness and an outstanding world view.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the plucky young fictional Ellen. I loved the insight that the author gave Ellen, in her quest for a better life. However, I know it is a fabrication, wishful thinking....
Abused kids don't think. Abused kids don't really feel. Abused kids watch. They are taught to never remember abuse, because they wouldn't survive it. They are the helpers, the uneasy kids, the ones who have no idea how to deal with bullies - unless they choose to emulate a parent, which means broadcasting and home will be even a greater hell. Abused kids would not arrive at the level of global understanding that Ellen Foster does by the end of the novel, if she's lucky, until she is at least thirty and more likely fifty. I know.
There is truth in the father, "More like a mean baby than a grown man. ...All the time I knew he was evil and I did not have the proof." And the grandmother, who takes her in, is monstrous: "Her power was the sucking kind that takes your good sense and leaves you limp like a zombie." Fabulous descriptions.
However, my favourite part of the novel revolves around Ellen deciding that she will choose her own new name. Her psychologist doesn't understand and talks about "identity", which makes no sense at the time. But Ellen actually had spotted the woman she wanted as a new mother (not ever possible in real life) at church. Surrounded by children, as she stood there Ellen asked her cousin about this lady's name. "She said they are the Foster family and that lady would take in anything from orphans to stray cats." I chuckled.
Ellen Foster is the abused Pippi Longstocking of the South, an adorable quirky confabulation who overcomes difficulty, circumvents evil and triumphs in developing tender and enlightened compassion for her Black friend, whom she understands will always have a hard life. It's a lovely tale and even though it is a far-fetched representative of the life of an abused kid, I still enjoyed it.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the plucky young fictional Ellen. I loved the insight that the author gave Ellen, in her quest for a better life. However, I know it is a fabrication, wishful thinking....
Abused kids don't think. Abused kids don't really feel. Abused kids watch. They are taught to never remember abuse, because they wouldn't survive it. They are the helpers, the uneasy kids, the ones who have no idea how to deal with bullies - unless they choose to emulate a parent, which means broadcasting and home will be even a greater hell. Abused kids would not arrive at the level of global understanding that Ellen Foster does by the end of the novel, if she's lucky, until she is at least thirty and more likely fifty. I know.
There is truth in the father, "More like a mean baby than a grown man. ...All the time I knew he was evil and I did not have the proof." And the grandmother, who takes her in, is monstrous: "Her power was the sucking kind that takes your good sense and leaves you limp like a zombie." Fabulous descriptions.
However, my favourite part of the novel revolves around Ellen deciding that she will choose her own new name. Her psychologist doesn't understand and talks about "identity", which makes no sense at the time. But Ellen actually had spotted the woman she wanted as a new mother (not ever possible in real life) at church. Surrounded by children, as she stood there Ellen asked her cousin about this lady's name. "She said they are the Foster family and that lady would take in anything from orphans to stray cats." I chuckled.
Ellen Foster is the abused Pippi Longstocking of the South, an adorable quirky confabulation who overcomes difficulty, circumvents evil and triumphs in developing tender and enlightened compassion for her Black friend, whom she understands will always have a hard life. It's a lovely tale and even though it is a far-fetched representative of the life of an abused kid, I still enjoyed it.
March 20, 2013
Ellen Foster is a ten year old girl who is rejected by all her family.
After the death of her weak- willed and sick mother she is left mostly on her own, her father being a drunk and violent man and her closer relations wash their hands off their responsibility.
A sad and heart-warming story, in which a little girl has to face the world and find her own place in it, keeping the illusion alive, in spite of her desolate surroundings.
Nothing new though.
After the death of her weak- willed and sick mother she is left mostly on her own, her father being a drunk and violent man and her closer relations wash their hands off their responsibility.
A sad and heart-warming story, in which a little girl has to face the world and find her own place in it, keeping the illusion alive, in spite of her desolate surroundings.
Nothing new though.
February 24, 2016
I give it 3 1/2 stars. The most engaging aspect of this book is its protagonist's voice: clear, unadorned, unsentimental. Her tale is truly heartbreaking--and therein lies what seems to me the book's primary flaw: the book is too short. I want to know in greater detail about Ellen's parents and the tragedy that befell her mother. I want to know more about the various homes she migrated through before finding her "new mama." I want to know more about her friend Starletta and her family. And the issue is not that I simply don't want to let go of the characters; I truly feel the need to know more about them in order to care about Ellen fully. I won't forget the origin of Ellen's name, but I fear that because of the brevity of this book, I may forget everything else about her.
July 29, 2007
"Ellen Foster" is one of those books I have to re-read every few years. The understanding of a pre-pubescent and otherwise unlucky girl as she deals with the insanity of adult reality in the flatlandish southern US speaks of a seasoning beyond her years. Her transparent naivté is obviously predicated on the awareness of the writer herself, but then, the book is using the disingenuousness natural to a child to make observations about the adult world. This device, hardly new to the world when Kay Gibbons first published "Ellen," nevertheless breaks with an irony that is at once hilarious, infuriating, frustrating, and sad.
August 11, 2024
A female Huckleberry Finn (abusive father, childhood trauma, black best friend, plucky independence, southern malapropisms) without the river and the raft.
This is an example of how to do present tense well. The novel is a mix of past and present tenses and it's seamlessly interwoven - I loathe present tense and I barely noticed it.
July 11, 2011
Mixed. Very good in parts, and in other ways it just didn't all hold together.
I didn't fall in love with the main character, Ellen, because despite her matter-of-fact narration and perspective on her own tormented childhood, she didn't feel like a real person to me. She had a voice I couldn't imagine a real 11 year old using, even one who had gone through what Ellen had. And at times she seemed far too adult to be plausible, while at others she seemed strangely naive (not knowing her new mama's last name wasn't "Foster," even after living with her?) She just didn't feel fully formed.
The plot itself felt uneven, too, though strong overall. At times it was very simple and moving, while at other times it didn't quite capture me. The book talks a lot about race--the book is mainly about Ellen's self-reliance through her trials and tribulations, but often the only postive family life she sees comes from black people. In the end, Ellen has a revelation about the way she sees black people that felt like a not entirely satisfying conclusion--why is this suddenly the main emphasis, I wondered?
This sort of revelatory memoir-style telling of bad childhoods, foster children, abuse & neglect and parental alcoholism and so on--it's sort of a red-hot genre these days, but in 1987 (as far as I know), when Gibbons wrote this, it was fairly new. I can't help but wonder if part of its critical acclaim came from the fact that such books were uncommon. And now, it's common... And so, sad as this may be, I wonder what a story like Ellen's has to offer us. We know such suffering exists. It's a part of everyday life. And to write a great novel about everyday life, you have to be a truly great writer. Gibbons is just a good writer.
All in all, the book is sweet despite the bleakness, and worth reading. Besides, it's so short. I mean, I did read it in a day, and I love being able to do that, completely immerse myself in a story. It just didn't change my life or anything.
I didn't fall in love with the main character, Ellen, because despite her matter-of-fact narration and perspective on her own tormented childhood, she didn't feel like a real person to me. She had a voice I couldn't imagine a real 11 year old using, even one who had gone through what Ellen had. And at times she seemed far too adult to be plausible, while at others she seemed strangely naive (not knowing her new mama's last name wasn't "Foster," even after living with her?) She just didn't feel fully formed.
The plot itself felt uneven, too, though strong overall. At times it was very simple and moving, while at other times it didn't quite capture me. The book talks a lot about race--the book is mainly about Ellen's self-reliance through her trials and tribulations, but often the only postive family life she sees comes from black people. In the end, Ellen has a revelation about the way she sees black people that felt like a not entirely satisfying conclusion--why is this suddenly the main emphasis, I wondered?
This sort of revelatory memoir-style telling of bad childhoods, foster children, abuse & neglect and parental alcoholism and so on--it's sort of a red-hot genre these days, but in 1987 (as far as I know), when Gibbons wrote this, it was fairly new. I can't help but wonder if part of its critical acclaim came from the fact that such books were uncommon. And now, it's common... And so, sad as this may be, I wonder what a story like Ellen's has to offer us. We know such suffering exists. It's a part of everyday life. And to write a great novel about everyday life, you have to be a truly great writer. Gibbons is just a good writer.
All in all, the book is sweet despite the bleakness, and worth reading. Besides, it's so short. I mean, I did read it in a day, and I love being able to do that, completely immerse myself in a story. It just didn't change my life or anything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2010
Gibbons' style reminds me of Cormac McCarthy. For me, that's no compliment. There are no quotation marks around the dialogue, making it harder to keep track of, and almost no commas as far as the eye can see. Gibbons at least could claim a rationale for what in McCarthy I can only see as an affectation. The first person narrator, Ellen Foster, is a child, poor and uneducated, so at least one could say the punctuation impoverished style fits her.
That doesn't mean I found the novel a pleasure to read, and not just for stylistic reasons (though it's my biggest issue). Although it's at least short--I'd estimate the novel is only about 50 thousand words. But it's fairly bleak, even if shot through with hope since right from the beginning Ellen intersperses the story of her happy new home with her uber dysfunctional biological family (her father isn't sure if his own daughter is 9 or 10, Ellen keeps the home, even pays bills and gets herself her own Christmas gift--and that's the small stuff). There is a dark humor threaded throughout and not a bit of self-pity, but the style kept me from ever connecting with the story.
That doesn't mean I found the novel a pleasure to read, and not just for stylistic reasons (though it's my biggest issue). Although it's at least short--I'd estimate the novel is only about 50 thousand words. But it's fairly bleak, even if shot through with hope since right from the beginning Ellen intersperses the story of her happy new home with her uber dysfunctional biological family (her father isn't sure if his own daughter is 9 or 10, Ellen keeps the home, even pays bills and gets herself her own Christmas gift--and that's the small stuff). There is a dark humor threaded throughout and not a bit of self-pity, but the style kept me from ever connecting with the story.
June 16, 2024
Walker Percy referred to the protagonist of the book, Ellen Foster, as a “southern Holden Caulfield” but I think if you compared her to someone more current, it would be Lucy Barton. At her young age, turning 11 in the book, if I remember, she’s carrying the world on her back and trying to forge a future for herself when everyone else either betrays her or just turns their back. However, you not only have affection for Ellen, you have faith in her inventiveness and will to survive in spite of everything against her.
The book starts with Ellen saying how when she was younger, she’d think of ways to kill her father, then work through the plans until they were perfect. Her mother is ill, apparently from a heart condition, but still works when she isn’t hospitalized. Her father is a violent, alcoholic ne’er-do-well, the poster boy for “white trash”, who berates the mother as just lazy, and habitually empties her purse, looking for money so he can go out and party with his lowlife friends. Early on in the book, her mother dies and this is when we’re introduced to that side of the family, somewhat snobbish, who considered that her mother married below her. However, Ellen is left to survive the best she can with her father.
Her best friend is Starletta, a black girl in her class at school, and here Ellen is torn at times between the way she feels and the racism around her. This also comes out in her being forced to survive with her father, and the feelings he generates by not only being an alcoholic but for consorting with Negroes. (This last is put less delicately in the book; the book seems to be placed in the South of the 1960’s.) Starletta’s family treats her almost as one of their own but not quite, knowing the rules they have to live under.
These two threads are actually Ellen’s memories of the past because throughout the book, Ellen also refers to her “new mother”, someone kind who obviously has no relation to her father or relatives but it isn’t clear until the final chapters how this all fits in – but fit in it does because the book is destined towards a happy ending. It’s hard not to love Ellen, irrepressible, persistent and creative in her desire to find a way to persevere, despite the hand she’s been dealt. An inspiring book for me!
The book starts with Ellen saying how when she was younger, she’d think of ways to kill her father, then work through the plans until they were perfect. Her mother is ill, apparently from a heart condition, but still works when she isn’t hospitalized. Her father is a violent, alcoholic ne’er-do-well, the poster boy for “white trash”, who berates the mother as just lazy, and habitually empties her purse, looking for money so he can go out and party with his lowlife friends. Early on in the book, her mother dies and this is when we’re introduced to that side of the family, somewhat snobbish, who considered that her mother married below her. However, Ellen is left to survive the best she can with her father.
Her best friend is Starletta, a black girl in her class at school, and here Ellen is torn at times between the way she feels and the racism around her. This also comes out in her being forced to survive with her father, and the feelings he generates by not only being an alcoholic but for consorting with Negroes. (This last is put less delicately in the book; the book seems to be placed in the South of the 1960’s.) Starletta’s family treats her almost as one of their own but not quite, knowing the rules they have to live under.
These two threads are actually Ellen’s memories of the past because throughout the book, Ellen also refers to her “new mother”, someone kind who obviously has no relation to her father or relatives but it isn’t clear until the final chapters how this all fits in – but fit in it does because the book is destined towards a happy ending. It’s hard not to love Ellen, irrepressible, persistent and creative in her desire to find a way to persevere, despite the hand she’s been dealt. An inspiring book for me!
September 26, 2010
If you are looking for a book to take your breath away, this is the one.
If you are looking for an exceptionally well-written novel wherein each phrase, each sentence, each paragraph contains poetic beauty, then this is the one.
If you are looking for a book that resonates deep within your soul, leaving you laughing, crying and simply not wanting it to end, then this is the book to read.
And, I'll go out on a huge limb to say that if you choose to read only one of my recommendations this year, please let this be the one!
Oh, my, this book is so incredibly powerful that I don't know enough superlative adjectives to describe it.
In my opinion, the 1987 debut of Gibbons is analogous to the beauty, poetry, and charm of Harper Lee's one and only Pulitzer Prize winning book To Kill a Mockingbird.
While the difficult topics of neglect, abuse, abandonment, poverty, the definition of values, and the searing problem of abiding inherited prejudice would be dark, dramatically depressing topics, in the hands of a skilled author, the reader is left with hope, with a love of the character and with the sure conviction that as humans, we are quite capable of overcoming terrible adversity.
Immediately upon reading the first sentence "When I was young, I would think of ways to kill my daddy.", the reader is hooked. Then, the author brilliantly follows through by telling the story of spunky, precocious, wise beyond her years, ten-year old Ellen Foster.
We follow Ellen through the suicide of her mother, the beatings and emotional abuse of her father, the relatives who did not want her and the trials of moving from one place to another.
The true beauty of the story is that of hope, courage and wisdom.
Ellen has one true friend, a lonely "colored" girl called Starletta. It is through this relationship that Gibbons weaves the negative power of prejudice, and the positive ability to overcome what was taught vs what is true.
Read this book and weep, and cry and laugh and smile and come away knowing you will be haunted by the beauty for a long, long time.
If you are looking for an exceptionally well-written novel wherein each phrase, each sentence, each paragraph contains poetic beauty, then this is the one.
If you are looking for a book that resonates deep within your soul, leaving you laughing, crying and simply not wanting it to end, then this is the book to read.
And, I'll go out on a huge limb to say that if you choose to read only one of my recommendations this year, please let this be the one!
Oh, my, this book is so incredibly powerful that I don't know enough superlative adjectives to describe it.
In my opinion, the 1987 debut of Gibbons is analogous to the beauty, poetry, and charm of Harper Lee's one and only Pulitzer Prize winning book To Kill a Mockingbird.
While the difficult topics of neglect, abuse, abandonment, poverty, the definition of values, and the searing problem of abiding inherited prejudice would be dark, dramatically depressing topics, in the hands of a skilled author, the reader is left with hope, with a love of the character and with the sure conviction that as humans, we are quite capable of overcoming terrible adversity.
Immediately upon reading the first sentence "When I was young, I would think of ways to kill my daddy.", the reader is hooked. Then, the author brilliantly follows through by telling the story of spunky, precocious, wise beyond her years, ten-year old Ellen Foster.
We follow Ellen through the suicide of her mother, the beatings and emotional abuse of her father, the relatives who did not want her and the trials of moving from one place to another.
The true beauty of the story is that of hope, courage and wisdom.
Ellen has one true friend, a lonely "colored" girl called Starletta. It is through this relationship that Gibbons weaves the negative power of prejudice, and the positive ability to overcome what was taught vs what is true.
Read this book and weep, and cry and laugh and smile and come away knowing you will be haunted by the beauty for a long, long time.
September 30, 2014
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."
One of the best opening lines for a book I have ever read. Knocked me off my center of gravity right away, and I was left wondering what kind of evil little girl was I going to be reading about. With an opener like that you might also think this book was somber and hopeless. Somber...Sometimes, hopeless...NO. It turned out to be filled with hilarious laugh-out-loud moments.
I was right about one thing. There is plenty of evil in this book, but Ellen isn't the source of it. Her family is filled to the brim with nastiness at both ends of her genetic pool. Ellen lets the reader in on how she is dealt with by her family and, in turn, how she deals with them.
Ellen has to grow up a lot in these 126 pages, and Gibbons has written what I consider to be a perfect novella. How she managed to tell such a rich and wonderful coming of age tale in so few words, is truly amazing.
This was my first 5 star of 2014 and I highly recommend it to everyone.
May 29, 2019
In questo libro Kaye Gibbons racconta di sé stessa, di una infanzia fatta unicamente di dolore, morti e tragedie...
Un racconto corto ma densissimo di un vissuto di tristezza e solitudine, di odio e abbandono...
Sola, senza più nessuno, riceverà il dono più grande che una bimba possa ricevere..... L'amore di una nuova mamma. Non è alla fin fine, l' amore più bello e assoluto che ogni uomo, sin dalla nascita e sino alla morte desidera e chiama!?
Un racconto corto ma densissimo di un vissuto di tristezza e solitudine, di odio e abbandono...
Sola, senza più nessuno, riceverà il dono più grande che una bimba possa ricevere..... L'amore di una nuova mamma. Non è alla fin fine, l' amore più bello e assoluto che ogni uomo, sin dalla nascita e sino alla morte desidera e chiama!?
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