The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

Friday, Mar. 24, 2023--San Antonio

The Book of Goose by Yiyun was listed as a top book of 2022 by TIME and others.  It is the story of two adolescent girls in a rural French village--one from a poor family and still in school and another who has dropped out of school to be a goatherd to support her one parent and her ill brother.  What made the book especially interesting for me was the perspective the girls had on life--a unique way for thinking about and analyzing things.  The goatherd has a somewhat confrontative personality and a great imagination.  The one in school has good penmanship and feels a very close attachment to the other.  Together, they have adventures that are thrilling and unusual.  But adolescence is different from adulthood.  As they both age into their late teens, there are societal expectations that cannot be avoided.  But before that time comes, the main part of the book deals with the fact that together the girls write a book that is published and becomes a sensation.  However, the result of that adventure is the beginning of the lessening of their ties to each other.  I enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars out of 5.