Synopses & Reviews
This sequel to Gibbons's beloved classic
Ellen Foster stands on its own as an unforgettable portrait of a redoubtable adolescent making herself up out of whole cloth. Now fifteen, Ellen is settled into a permanent home with a new mother. Strengthened by adversity and blessed with enough intelligence to design a salvation for herself, she still feels ill at ease in the world. Her sole surviving ritual a visit to the county fair takes on totemic importance. While she holds fast to the shreds of her childhood humoring her best friend, Stuart, who is determined to marry her; and protecting her old neighbor, slow-witted Starletta she negotiates her way into a larger world by selling her poetry to pay her way to a camp for gifted students. With a singular mix of perspicacity, naïveté, and compassion, Ellen draws us into her life and makes us fall in love with her all over again.
"Anyone considering making an underage change in life, such
as who you're going to live with, should know there's no way to
avoid the government getting in on the decision, so try to be
kind to the lady they'll send with a stack of tests. Try to stay
calm and do your best on them." from The Life All Around Me By Ellen Foster
Review
"This book lacks the strong story arc of its predecessor....But Ellen is still a remarkable creation, and her narrative voice, while it has matured and grown more sophisticated, remains compelling and unique." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"[A] brilliant sequel....The stream-of-consciousness style requires slowing down one's reading to a Southern pace, which makes the book a restful read and calls attention to Gibbons's meticulous language. This book is not to be missed. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"Gibbons returns to the eponymous heroine of her first, Ellen Foster, still plucky and brilliant but no longer beset by hard luck....Ellen's fortune has improved, but her charm has curdled into self-congratulatory superiority." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Gibbons again proves herself as adept at capturing a sense of place as any writer of contemporary...fiction....The Life All Around Me looks more like a conventional novel than Ellen Foster, and as such it requires better developed characters and a feasible plot." Lauren Collins, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Readers who've missed her will find Ellen satisfyingly alive and well here....After Gibbons' first book, Time magazine said, 'Some people might give up their second-born to write as well as Kaye Gibbons.' This is still true." San Diego Union-Tribune
Review
"[T]he novel's method of telling, in which Ellen herself is the story's landscape, is also its signal strength. As she uses her considerable resources to move toward understanding...we're right there with her." Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
A sequel to the now-classic Ellen Foster picks up Ellen's life five years later, at 15, with a new mother, a home, a mind too large for her surroundings, and a brave and compassionate integrity.
Synopsis
In this sequel to Gibbonss beloved classic Ellen Foster, Ellen, now fifteen, is settled into a permanent home with a new mother. Strengthened by adversity and blessed with enough intelligence to design a salvation for herself, she still feels ill at ease. But while she holds fast to the shreds of her childhoodhumoring her best friend, Stuart, who is determined to marry her; and protecting her old neighbor, slow-witted Starlettashe begins to negotiate her way into a larger world. With a singular mix of perspicacity, naïveté, and compassion, Ellen draws us into her life and makes us fall in love with her all over again.
About the Author
Kaye Gibbons is the author of seven bestselling novels. Her first novel, Ellen Foster, was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a special citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. That novel, as well as A Virtuous Woman, was chosen for Oprah's Book Club. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.