Dec 27

Dec 27 The Book of Goose

About the book

Author: Yiyun Li
Publisher: FSG

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

This is a tricky book to review. It definitely wasn’t want I expected, even though the synopsis paints a fully accurate picture of the events of the book. It’s told from a woman named Agnès’ perspective, fully in flashback as she tells us about her (not very healthy) childhood friendship with a dynamic young woman named Fabienne.

Ultimately, this ended up in a “liked a lot” instead of a “loved” category for me. I think it was just a little too much “and then, and then, and then” held away at juuuust a little too much distance. But also, the prose was excellent, and some of the philosophical musings Agnès tugs from her experiences are really striking. There’s a lot to unpack here about girlhood and girlhood friendship, plus class and generational class changes. I will definitely be reading more of Yiyun Li’s work, and I’m excited that she’s on the Booker Prize judging panel this year.