2,661,298+ Books Available - 1,677 Members Online
Your source for swapping books online - Read...Swap...Save!
How To Swap Books?
Sign Up
Search 
Kiosk
All Books
Book Browser
Advanced Search
Books Posted Today
Club Wish List
Member Book Reviews
NYT Best Seller List
Login
Community
Member Directory
Discussion Forums
Live Chat (4)
Box-O-Books
Book Journal
Maps
The Eclectic Pen
Fun Stuff
Top 50s
Pulse of PBS
Spread The Word
Photo Gallery
Recipes
Club Tag Cloud
Member Testimonials
Help Center
Kiosk
Need Help?
Search - Ellen Foster
|
|
|
||||
Book Description:
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out thisor 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 first novel, which won the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Acadamy ond Institute of Arts and Letters. Wise, funny, affectionate, and true, Ellen Foster is as Walker Percy called it, "The real thing. Which is to say, a lovely, sometimes heartwrenching novel...{Ellen Foster} is as much a part of the backwoods South as a Faulkner character - and a good more endearing."
"The story of a young girl who overcomes adversity with humor, spunk, and determination, Kaye Gibbons's first novel is a work of considerable subtlety and intellectual sophistication. A terrific book." - Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book Herald
"The story of a young girl who overcomes adversity with humor, spunk, and determination, Kaye Gibbons's first novel is a work of considerable subtlety and intellectual sophistication. A terrific book." - Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book Herald
Members who requested this book also requested:
 |
Similar books to this author and title:
 |  |  |  |  |
Genres:
Other Versions of this Book: Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio Cassette, Paperback, Hardcover
Top Member Reviews
Donna C. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.
Pat N. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Well, I guess I am a dissenting voice because I did not like this book at all. I understand how important the message is, but the writing style and such just turned me off. I finished the book, but only because it was so short. Otherwise, I would have given up sooner. No more Kaye Gibbons for me.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
"When I was young, I would think of ways to kill my daddy." So begins Kaye Gibbon's debut novel, Ellen Foster, a powerful story told by the epononymous Ellen, an 11-year orphan whose violent father is responsible for her mother's suicide. Ellen is eventually taken out of her father's care and placed in a series of temporary homesâ€"first with her grandmother, where she is made to toil in the fields as twisted payback for her father's brutality, and then with a neglectful aunt and her spoiled daughter, Dora. Told as a dual narrative, Ellen Foster follows the heroine's ordeals both chronologically and in reflection, and ends with her wish of a "new mama" fulfilled.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
If ;you like Kaye Gibbons~~~~~backwoods Southern with homegrown characters with homegrown philosophies, you will love this book. I did. Oprah did. It is a very short, very satisfying read. About 4 stars on this one.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Gripping. The reader should clear his head in order to follow the plain, yet complex progress of a young girl whose goal is to achieve a simple, normal childhood. Kaye Gibbons is by far one of today's serious authors, and her talent is demonstrated by this compelling story.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Couldn't put it down. Short book though, so a quick read. Makes you want to read all the authors other work.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
in the same vane as bluest eye and night... short; but covers a lot with no wasting of even one word...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
one of my favorite books ever! rates right up there with To Kill A Mockingbird!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
An award winning novel of a young girl with Fetal alcohol syndrome.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Oprah's Book Club favorite
Rate These Member Reviews
A very good easy read. In the style of a Virtuous Woman. "The story of a redoubtable girl who overcomes adversity with humor, spunk, and determination, Kaye Gibbons first novel is a work of considerable subtlety and intellectual sophistication. A terrific book" ~ Jonathon Yardley, Washington Post Book World. Taken from back of book.
Mary F. from LAGRANGE, KY wrote on 6/26/2008...I found this story to be very difficult to follow. I thought maybe I just wasn't "getting" it, so I put it down for a few weeks and tried again. I normally like Oprah picks, but there have been a few lately that leave me shrugging - this is at the top of that list!
"When I was young, I would think of ways to kill my daddy." So begins Kaye Gibbon's debut novel, Ellen Foster, a powerful story told by the epononymous Ellen, an 11-year orphan whose violent father is responsible for her mother's suicide. Ellen is eventually taken out of her father's care and placed in a series of temporary homesâ€"first with her grandmother, where she is made to toil in the fields as twisted payback for her father's brutality, and then with a neglectful aunt and her spoiled daughter, Dora. Told as a dual narrative, Ellen Foster follows the heroine's ordeals both chronologically and in reflection, and ends with her wish of a "new mama" fulfilled.
This was a simple book written in the first person. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it.
Ida F. from SOUTHWICK, MA wrote on 5/5/2007...Heart-warming and somewhat heart-wrenching at the same time. Can't wait to read the sequel.
Kathryn D. from DURANGO, CO wrote on 3/27/2007...A novel bythe author of A Virtuous Woman
Skye B. from ASHEVILLE, NC wrote on 2/26/2007...A poignant and touching story of a young girl. Recommended reading for any woman who grew up in the South.
Another Oprah selection from her early book club years.
I have yet to be disappointed by an Oprah's Book Club selection - this book was no exception.