Ellen Foster (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Kaye Gibbons
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Bildungsroman
- Time of Work: The mid-1980’s
- Setting: The American South
- Principal Characters: Ellen Foster, Bill, Starletta, Julia, Ellen’s maternal grandmother, Nadine, Ellen’s new mama
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Bildungsroman, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Girls, Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, Suicide, Abused persons, Abandoned children, 1980’s, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Child abuse, Substance abuse, Adoption or adopted children, Southwest, Orphans or orphanages
- Locales: Southeast (U.S.)
Form and Content
The events in Ellen Foster take place over about a year and a half, narrated by Ellen herself in a matter-of-fact, colloquial style that is generally believable as that of an eleven-year-old in the American South, with its occasional malapropisms and simple punctuation (only periods are deemed necessary by Ellen). The narrative alternates between Ellen’s grim past and her glowing present. Ellen’s troubles are over now, but the exact sequence of events in her past unfolds gradually.
Soon after Ellen’s semi-invalid mother returns from the...
[The entire page is 1978 words long]
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