The Book of Goose

Agnès is the narrator-protagonist and “writer” of The Book of Goose. Her perspectives, both as a child and an adult, inform the character and plot development of the novel. The reader meets Agnès in media res, when the major events of her life have already happened and yet, there is foreshadowing of a new chapter as she writes the story of her childhood friend Fabienne. As an adult, Agnès is emotionally and physically removed from her childhood home of Saint Rémy, France. Still, the impact of this place manifests in her compassion for farm animals and nature—specifically, her geese. A letter revealing Fabienne’s death allows her to revisit the past with more empathy and honesty.

As a child, Agnès’s role model and source of identity is best friend Fabienne. Fabienne is a crucial distraction for both girls because they live in a post-World War II world, with Agnès losing her brother Jean to the war. The girls are poor, dismissed as future mothers. They play roleplaying games to feel fully realized, and Agnès’s life changes when Fabienne decides to write a book. Agnès writes Fabienne’s spoken stories and at Fabienne’s request, is given full credit for authorship.