The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss

A Novel

Holly Kennedy

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Themes
Self-discovery, Family secrets, Chaos from good intentions

Who it’s for

  • For readers who enjoy funny novels about murder charges and legal trouble
  • For readers drawn to family secrets and personal revelations

Where it sits

How strongly BookFrontier reads the book as belonging to each subject.

About this book

Longlisted for the 2025 Giller Prize.

Nominated for the 2026 Edgar Award—Best Paperback Original.

Finalist for the 2026 Audie Award.

In this poignant and funny novel, a man who is defined by his limitations sets out to fight a murder charge—and discovers unexpected truths about himself, his family, and the world at large.

On the surface, Denny Voss’s life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one.

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At thirty years old, he lives at home with his elderly mother and his beloved blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. He cleans up roadkill to help pay the bills. Though his prospects are limited by a developmental delay—the result of an accident at birth—Denny has always felt that he has “a good life.”

So how did he wind up being charged with the murder of a mayoral candidate—after crashing a sled full of guns into a tree?

As Denny awaits trial, his court-appointed therapist walks him through the events of the past year. Denny’s had other scuffles with the law, the first for kidnapping a neighbor’s cantankerous goose. And then there was the time he accidentally assisted in a bank robbery. It seems like whenever Denny tries to do the right thing, chaos ensues.

Untangling the events around the murder reveals even more painful truths about his family’s past. He’s always been surrounded by people who love him, but now it’s up to Denny to set his life on a new course.

Publisher details

Publisher categories

  • Coming-of-Age
  • Women's Fiction
  • Small-Town Fiction
Authors
Holly Kennedy
Publisher
Amazon Publishing
Published
April 8, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Coming-of-Age