The Book of Goose by  Yiyun Li

The Book of Goose

Yiyun Li

This is a story of a friendship, told in hindsight as a tribute to her lost childhood friend. Even though it's written in an almost factual style, it's very moving indeed. Despite the apparent easy way of telling, there is a suspense that makes you wonder how what started out as a game could have such a disruptive life-changing effect.

Extract

Fabienne and I – we were friends for a reason. Only later, when I met more girls, when I got to know my nieces and nephews, did I understand that Fabienne and I shared something not often available to children (or adults, for that matter). Neither of us felt intense love towards our parents, or intense resentment. And the world was made of people who were not that different from our parents, so it was only natural that neither of us felt intense love or intense resentment towards anyone. We had each other, and for a long time that was enough.

Parallels
  • Stay True by Hua Hsu
  • Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer
  • Heaven by Mieko Kawakami