Product Description

'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'. So begins the tale of Ellen Foster, the brave and engaging heroine of Kaye Gibbons's much acclaimed first novel. The story of an eleven year old orphan, driven to desperation by some of the wickedest relatives in literary history, this is the story of her battle for survival. Wise, funny and affectionate, Walker Percy called it. 'The real thing. Which is to say, a lovely, sometimes heart-wrenching novel ...{Ellen Foster} is as much a part of the backwoods South as a Faulkner character - and a good deal more endearing'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #574966 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
'Ellen Foster is a southern Holden Caulfield, tougher perhaps, as funny ... A breathtaking first novel' WALKER PERCY 'Filled with lively humour, compassion and integrity ... Ellen Foster may be the most trustworthy character in recent fiction ' ALICE HOFFMAN

ALICE HOFFMAN
'Filled with lively humour, compassion and integrity ... ellen Foster may be the most trustworthy character in recent fiction '

About the Author
Kaye Gibbons has won A National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Pen Award , a citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation, the Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prize, and other honours.

Customer Reviews

Engrossing, heartwrenching, wonderous ...
I stood by my bookcase looking at the spines of a half dozen books I haven't read yet and there was a diminutive little hardcover wedged into the mix -- Ellen Foster. I half-heartedly pulled it from the shelf and opened it to the first page and started reading a little just to see if it would be interesting enough to read. Well .... I stood rooted to that spot, standing by the bookcase, reading for some time. I was so engrossed in the story immediately that I forgot the time. This was a story that just pulls you right in and holds your heart until the end.

Poor little Ellen Foster is born to a very sickly mother with an abusive husband. Her poor mother dies near the beginning of the book, the one person who seemed to really love poor little Ellen. She is shuttled back and forth from relative to relative. They are cruel and selfish and let her know right up front that they don't want her. Gosh, your heart just breaks for this dear child. Don't want to say much more as I don't want to ruin the story for anyone.

This story is told in narrative form. It's as though little Ellen, very wise beyond her 11 years on this earth, is sitting right there next to you telling you the story of her life. There are no quotation marks, no dialog in the sense that you are used to, it's a rambling monologue about her life. You know what? You don't notice that, you just live this child's life as she tells it.

It's not all sadness as misery. It's also about triumph over the worst odds, triumph over what would knock most of us down, triumph of this wonderful little girl and where her life takes her. I love Ellen Foster.

You have got to get your hands on this book and dive in. You'll enjoy it to the point of forgetting time itself. You'll feel that Ellen Foster is a real person sitting there telling her story. Read this wonderful book ... doing so will enrich your life.

A modern fairytale with a bit of a twist
I read this book because I'm determied to read as much of Oprah Winfrey's book list as possible. I was not disappointed!

Ellen Foster is the tale of a young girl whose life is quite simply horrific.

Kaye Gibbon's page turning account is most certainly enriched by the creation of true to life fairy tale 'baddies' in the shape of Ellen's relatives. She also uses this novel to look at deeper issues such as racism and survival.

I highly recommend this book especially if your a sucker for a happy ending. If you have teens in the house this book is a must, I'm passing this on to my 14 year old cousin maybe she'll appreciate what she has when she reads this.

A Short but Touching Read
Just a very short novel of 126 pages, but still a really moving and sometimes heartwrenching read.

Eleven year old Ellen narrates the story - there is very little in the way of punctuation but this only adds to the honest of her story. Ellen's mother dies and she is left to manage on her own as her father is a desperate alcoholic who sees Ellen as something he can ridicule and abuse. Ellen moves in with her maternal grandmother who again, like her father, treats her badly.

Finally after being shoved from pillar to post she finds her 'new mama' - a foster mother who Ellen has seen in Church.

Ellen Foster is a fascinating story - although it is obvious she is abused there is no graphic details - this is fiction and nothing like the masses of 'misery memoirs' that are on almost every book shop shelf these days.

Ellen is a simple and honest girl, but obviously full of insight and intelligence. Throughout the novel her enduring love for her black friend Starletta keeps her going through thick and thin.

A beautiful and touching story.