The Book of Goose is a 2022 novel published by Yiyun Li which relates the story of two girls growing up in the ravaged French countryside following World War II.
Agnès and Fabienne decide to write a book, with Fabienne devising the stories and Agnès writing them down. The local postmaster, Monsieur Devaux, is enlisted by the girls to help edit the book. Fabienne eventually decides that only Agnès should get credit as author and Devaux uses connections he has in Paris to help her get it published. Eventually, it is published to widespread acclaim and interest. Because of the age and gender of the credited author, however, speculation falls upon Devaux as the actual author, especially due to his unusually close relationship with the girls. When Devaux tries to seduce Fabienne, accusations lead to his being forced to leave the village. Meanwhile, Agnès has become the protégé of a British woman who runs a finishing school for training social debutantes. A frustrated writer herself, the woman urges Agnès to write a book about her days at the school but is hesitant since it is Fabienne who is the real storyteller. She is much more excited about remaining in contact with her friend through the guise of establishing a relationship with Jacques, Fabienne’s brother, who is just Fabienne herself. This situation eventually leads to disenchantment on the part of the British woman and Agnès returning home where she writes another book with the story imagined by Fabienne. This volume fails to stimulate the same interest, however, and as the two girls begin to leave their teenage years behind them, they drift apart. The story circles back around to where it began with an older Agnès hearing the news that Fabienne has died while giving birth to a child. She sets herself to the task of paying homage to her storyteller friend by penning The Book of Goose.
As the title hints, The Book of Goose is a story about storytelling. That is not to define storytelling necessarily in terms of writing books. The two young girls at its center create lives for themselves that are stories. Agnès is technically the writer of the two books she publishes, but she is not the storyteller. Despite that, she lives out the story of being not just the writer, but the author. The question that inevitably arises is what does Fabienne get out of this relationship. Agnès alone receives the praise and reaps the benefits that come with fame.
Except that, of course, those benefits are awarded upon the premise of Agnès being an actual writer rather than merely a transcriber. There is a reason that Agnès is not equal part storyteller alongside Fabienne. One friend is less than she seems while the other is more. Fabienne already makes stories of her life in the way she lives her life. Her accusations against the postmaster are not based in fact but she nevertheless enjoys the power of turning the whole town against him.
What this novel comes down to, in the end, is about what is meant by living a life. Fabienne lives a life outside the confines of her storytelling. She is approached with sexual intentions by the postmaster, not Agnès. Fabienne is the instigator of games and ideas and she has a personality that is perfect for her friendship with Agnès but with others in the community, she is seen as aggressive and even slightly threatening. Fabienne lives life in every moment. She is proactive whereas Agnès is reactive. Life acts out upon Agnès while Fabienne acts out against life.
When reading the book, it is important not to overlook the meaning of where and when the story is set. France in the post-war years was the breeding ground for the explosion of existential philosophy. The two main characters are paired off against each other to play out an existential drama in which the meaning of life is explicitly to be found in the meaning that one gives it. No matter what that meaning might be, ultimately it is a story. Life is storytelling and each person not only has a different story to tell but their unique way of writing it.
