Ellen Foster
Ellen Foster
Ellen Foster is a 1987 novel by American novelist Kaye Gibbons. It was a selection of Oprah's Book Club in October 1997.
Background
Gibbons wrote Ellen Foster at age 26 while studying American literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reportedly, at age 25 she approached professor Louis Rubin, who had just started the publishing company Algonquin Books, and presented him with the first 30 pages of the novel. After fellow student Lee Smith introduced Gibbons to her agent, Liz Darhansoff, Darhansoff agreed to represent her, and Algonquin would publish the book.
Background
Gibbons has said she wrote Ellen Foster quickly, in about six weeks. Though the book is fictional, and Gibbons initially denied that it was autobiographical, she has since been more open in the press about its autobiographical elements. In 2015, she said of the story: "My emotional goal with [Ellen Foster] was to heal my mother's suicide."
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