Fabienne and Agnes are best friends who live in a small, poor, rural town in France. Fabienne is the dominant one in the relationship. One day she decides she will dictate a creative work of fiction to Agnes, and Agnes will take full credit as the author. The retired postman who lives in their village edits it and then sends it on to a publisher in Paris. It is printed and Agnes becomes famous when she is fourteen years old.

I have read several of Yiyun Li’s books, and although she is a fine writer, there is always an element of discomfort in them. The Book of Goose is mainly a book about friendship, but there are also themes of death, poverty and deception.