Foe, Not what you might expect

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑  Foe delivers a story that is subtle, thought-provoking and entrancing. It is more than it seems and left me pondering its deeper meaning since finishing. I cannot stop thinking about that ending.

In Foe, Junior and Hen are married and live a secluded life in an old farm house surrounded by canola fields. They never get visitors but one night Terrance stops in to tell them Junior has won a lottery to go away for a few years to work on a space installation, leaving Hen at home with a replacement version of him. This, as you might expect, unsettles both of them and so the drama begins.

It's hard to describe the feeling and emotion this book invokes. It is so smooth and consistent yet there is a tangible tension that arrives with Terrance and builds steadily throughout the book. Such small things make large ripples in this story and the relationship between Hen and Junior is a great barometer. I loved the interplay between the characters and the sense of wrongness that grows with the tension. There is much to be observed here and worthy of reflection.

I loved Foe. It left me unsure of what was happening and feeling anxious on behalf of Hen and Junior. The twists, when they come, are so well delivered it's hard to grasp them. This was a great read that left me feeling discombobulated in a way that is rare.