On the flipside, it’s clear that wanting to be a mother, but not being able to, can mess you up too. Clara’s spunk and curiosity was delightful, and even though her worries are more than she should bear at such a young age, she provides much needed lightness and humor to the story.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this novel is that if you really take a step back, it’s a very dark little thing. Although no person gets full clarity on those questions, the characters get a little closer to the answers. This is clearly wrong — Mrs Orchard was only going into hospital for a few days and asked Clara to look after Moses, her cat. You don’t want something that is so experimental as to be highly satisfying to the author and a few ultra-sophisticated critics. In his thirties and recently divorced, he’s taking a break in this tiny town, never imagining that he might find a new life.

I’m laughing because I already know that I’m not going to be able to convince anyone to pick up this book unless they already had a mild interest in it. I also liked the evocation of rural Canadian life in 1972 - a slower pace, not without its own problems, but with a sense of community that a lonely, broken Liam comes to admire. The handsome man Clara watches and tries to outsmart is Liam, now weathered and a self-declared misanthrope escaping the misery of a marriage that sputtered along years too long.

Authentic compelling characters, simple understated but superb writing style, and a profound understanding of the human heart. Lawson spent her summers in the north, and the landscape inspired her to use Northern Ontario as her settings for both her novels.I wouldn't designate it really as 'literary fiction', and it surely doesn't qualify as one of the 13 best books of the year - but it IS an extremely well-written and beguiling book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite such trepidations. Even so, Clara still takes care of Moses, feeding him and spending time with him, when Liam is away from the house. An international bestseller and one of The Times' "Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century," Claire Keegan's piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US.