The Good Denis

An enigmatic and troubling novel on the fog of childhood and the long shadows cast by good men by critically acclaimed author, Marie Ndiaye.

Marie is haunted by a man named Denis, whom she doesn’t remember, though everyone else does. It seems that Denis was there for her after her father abandoned her mother. But it might be that her mother was the one who left her father: for Denis, a man who was powerful and terrifying in his overwhelming goodness. Or maybe her father was Denis, the name given to him by his wife’s family because they couldn’t pronounce his African name. A man who had to bear their coldness until it was impossible for him to stay.

Or was Denis a teacher she had? Or somebody else entirely? Or nobody? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter; what matters instead is what it means to be good, and who it is who gets to decide, and who decided so clearly that Marie is not.