Foster by Claire Keegan

A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house she finds affection she has not known before, and slowly she begins to blossom in their care. But when a secret is suddenly revealed, she realizes how fragile her idyll is.

Thanks for breaking my heart again, Claire.

A slice of life masterpiece, definitely a book you'd like to take with you everywhere and read over and over. Such comfort it gives.

There is no literary joy quite like the joy of an author dropping you into a short story in the middle of a scene engrossing you in the narrative in such a way that most authors are not able to do in pages and pages and pages. I am always in AWE when an author can make me care so deeply about the characters in just a couple of pages. There is an instant connect in a great short story with the narrative that is so soul-satisfying. All the stars in the world.