Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation's Citation for Fiction. An eleven-year-old heroine tells her unforgettable story with honesty, perceptivity, humor, and unselfconscious heroism. "The honesty of thought and eye and feeling and word!"--Eudora Welty; "A lovely, breathtaking, sometimes heart-wrenching first novel."--Walker Percy. A LITERARY GUILD SELECTION.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon
Oprah Book Club® Selection, October 1997: Kaye Gibbons is a writer who brings a short story sensibility to her novels. Rather than take advantage of the novel's longer form to paint her visions in broad, sweeping strokes, Gibbons prefers to concentrate on just one corner of the canvas and only a few colors to produce her small masterpieces. In Gibbons's case, her canvas is the American South and her colors are all the shades of gray.
In Ellen Foster, the title character is an 11-year-old orphan who refers to herself as "old Ellen," an appellation that is disturbingly apt. Ellen is an old woman in a child's body; her frail, unhappy mother dies, her abusive father alternately neglects her and makes advances on her, and she is shuttled from one uncaring relative's home to another before she finally takes matters into her own hands and finds herself a place to belong. There is something almost Dickensian about Ellen's tribulations; like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield or a host of other literary child heroes, Ellen is at the mercy of predatory adults, with only her own wit and courage--and the occasional kindness of others--to help her through. That she does, in fact, survive her childhood and even rise above it is the book's bittersweet victory. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The appealing, eponymous, 11-year-old orphan heroine of this Southern-focused debut survives appalling situations until she finds safe harbor in a good foster home. "Some readers will find the recital of Ellen's woes mawkishly sentimental," PW remarked, "but for others it may be a perfect summer read."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By marchmere
Format:Paperback
Heard about this book from [...]
It was like a long poem - one of the best books I have read in a long time. I don't usually read novels (prefer non-fiction), but made an exception for this beautiful work.
It was like a long poem - one of the best books I have read in a long time. I don't usually read novels (prefer non-fiction), but made an exception for this beautiful work.
Format:Paperback
If you want a book that will fit into a nice little box with a label, this ain't the book for you. However, if you like to challenge what you THINK you know, then give this a try. Excellent for a discussion group, just as good read on your own, this is a book that asks you to suspend your own experiences and try to see the world from another vantage point. The plot was interesting, the narrator's voice was appealing. I cared about what happened. A short read. But what's short on quantity is not short on substance.
By Jean Poole
Format:Paperback
The conundrum---what to do? The book is told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl (think along the lines of Sue Monk Kidd's SECRET LIFE OF BEES). I was thinking, "Oh, no. Not again." But as usual the author handles the material expertly. But what do you do when the main character is the one telling the story, yet her grammar is terrible? Do you leave in the bad English, or do you clean it up and have the "realistic" element taken out? This is a difficult question, and a few authors get around this in various way---I'm thinking of THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD with its precocious seven-year-old who spouts the Latin names for plants. So much for bad grammar. But in ELLEN FOSTER, that couldn't have been done. I only found this "realism" mildly distracting as the story itself is good. Read in one day, it was a not-too-emotional telling by a very talented author who deserves much more respect and admiration that she is getting. Also try her ON THE OCCASION which, I believe, is her best book.
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 366 reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
seemed dated
I appreciated the humor and wisdom in Ellen's voice. I applauded her spunk. The subject matter is enormous in its own right, so I was mystified by what seemed a twist in focus at... Read more
Published on May 31 2004 by J. Harrell
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great short book, but quite involving
If you are picking up this book because it is short, that's fine, but if you don't want to get a book where you're involved, a book where you actually feel things, then don't read... Read more
Published on April 30 2004 by Hsoj Yensid
5.0 out of 5 stars
deeply moving, creatively written
I read this book starting out as an assignment, but ended up adding it to the list of my favorites. The amount of levels Gibbons writes on is amazing; she can make you laugh and... Read more
Published on April 26 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ellen is fabulous!
The voice of this little girl is amazingly clear. How often do you laugh out loud? For a book that is not so funny... but oh, what a voice she has. Brilliantly written. Read more
Published on April 15 2004 by katiebug
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Depressing but Good Book!!!
I recently read this book and was very impressed.
Ellen is born into a difficult family.When her mother dies, and her father continues to drink Ellen sees how unhappy... Read more
Ellen is born into a difficult family.When her mother dies, and her father continues to drink Ellen sees how unhappy... Read more
Published on April 6 2004 by L. Hall
4.0 out of 5 stars
As good as it gets
My first Kaye Gibbons book was "On the Occasion of my Last Afternnon," and I was hooked at that point. I can honestly say that the woman simply does not write bad books. Read more
Published on April 3 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Book!!!
An 11 year old girl is born into a bad life. Her mother dies and her father drinks constantly. The poor girl drifts from one
foster home to another, in search of someone who... Read more
foster home to another, in search of someone who... Read more
Published on Mar 29 2004 by L. Hall
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible book
My English teacher assigned me to read this book... for some reason he must like the Oprah's Book Club, because we have read numerous other books from it this year. Read more
Published on Jan 27 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
The ending was anti-climactic
I found the end to be rather anti-climactic, however this was a good book...very brief.
Published on Jan 12 2004
2.0 out of 5 stars
A book that leads to nowhere
This book follows the life of Ellen. Growing up in the south, her life is filled with racism, abuse and neglect. It seems that all Ellen wants is a place to belong. Read more
Published on Jan 4 2004
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
