The story I have chosen to look at this month is Foster by Claire Keegan (read it here: https:// writ.rs/foster). This first appeared as a short story in The New Yorker in 2010. It was later released in an extended form as a novella by Faber and Faber. If you enjoy the story, you might want to go on to read the novella, but my comments here are based on the story as it appeared originally. As always, you will get most from this masterclass if you read the story for yourself. Don’t be put off by the length – it is worth it.