--- title: The Book of Goose: 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 description: Find out why "The Book of Goose" by Yiyun Li is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-11-14T12:58:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:11:35.179Z og:title: 'The Book of Goose' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt993f3279bf8533ec/698a37bc16d884c3d0c3b489/TheBookofGoose.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'The Book of Goose' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Book of Goose' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt993f3279bf8533ec/698a37bc16d884c3d0c3b489/TheBookofGoose.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2022 # The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  Nothing beats the power of a strong friendship between two teenage girls. The world two best friends can conjure is nonsensical and wonderful, but also intense and risky, shaped by outside circumstances that push people together. Agnes and Fabienne are two such friends in _The Book of Goose_, a coming-of-age novel set in rural 1950s France in the grim aftermath of World War II. The two decide to write a book, a dark story that comes together with the help of an older man in town, which becomes an unexpected best seller. Years after their success, Agnes learns that Fabienne has died—and is finally able to come to terms with the truth about their obsessive friendship. —_Mahita Gajanan_ **Buy Now**: _The Book of Goose_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374606343 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3FYsLZy "undefined") **Contact us at** [letters@time.com](mailto:letters@time.com?subject=%28READER%20FEEDBACK%29%20Stay%20True&body=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2Fcollection-post%2F6228627%2Fstay-true%2F "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/"},"headline":"The Book of Goose","datePublished":"2022-11-14T12:58:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:11:35.179Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt993f3279bf8533ec/698a37bc16d884c3d0c3b489/TheBookofGoose.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt993f3279bf8533ec/698a37bc16d884c3d0c3b489/TheBookofGoose.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228442/the-book-of-goose/","name":"The Book of Goose"}}]}] ```