The Sideways Life of Denny Voss
by Holly Kennedy
(Lake Union Publishing, April 8, 2025)
Magical. Heart-warming. Authentic. THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS is one book that lives up to what readers and fellow authors are hailing as a true classic.
The novel is a big-hearted story full of humanity and humor and featuring an unconventional main character that readers will fall in love with.
In Holly Kennedy’s THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS, 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.
“I think we need people like that [Denny] in our lives, right, who aren’t negative or toxic or draining for us,” author Holly Kennedy says. “So I think he lifts the people up who are around him, within his community. And that’s why he has such a strong, protective sense of community. Is they adore him, too, because he’s just a good guy.”
Here, Kennedy gives Authorlink’s Doris Booth an intimate look into how she developed this extraordinary story.
“I remember sitting at 2 in the morning at my computer crying, thinking, Is anyone else going to ever feel the magic I am feeling of Denny’s story,” said Kennedy.
She wrote the first 30 pages in 2010. Years later she completed three drafts before sending to her agent. The agent loved her voice and together they went through another three or four drafts before it went to prospectiv publishers.
Though Denny is her fourth novel, Holly found it the most difficult book to write.
“Well, I had to put myself in a man’s head space right? And I was saying to someone recently that each chapter that I wrote with Denny, I would make a list of what I was trying to accomplish, and because it’s in first person point of view, difficult.”
Holly Kennedy hopes the novel will maybe cracks open some readers hearts a little bit and makes them rethink how they look at people without judging them.
On the surface, Denny Voss’s life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one. 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. 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.
THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS is told from Denny’s perspective, giving readers a window into the way he views—and moves through—the world. Denny is a caring, hard-working man who is often underestimated and taken advantage of. Holly Kennedy wanted to write a novel that addressed the way cognitively challenged people are often dismissed by society as it’s a story that hits close to home. One of Kennedy’s family members is cognitively challenged and many of her traits became Denny’s—her purity and innocence, her trusting outlook on life, how she’s sometimes unaware of the seriousness of situations and can’t always properly communicate using her own words so instead mimics other people’s responses. As she explains in the Author’s Note at the back of the book: “It bothers me that society often perceives those with mental disabilities as people who need constant support, as resource-draining members of society who have little to contribute and don’t have the ability to influence or enrich other people’s lives. I wanted Denny, as the protagonist of this novel, to challenge those stereotypes.”
While it does tackle some tough topics—gun violence, mental disability, ageism, health insecurity, sexual grooming, teenage pregnancy—THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS is a heartwarming read about community, about the families we inherit and the ones we create, about individual limitations and human potential.
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss“ will be a modern classic. Kennedy’s Denny is not idealized. Instead, he is fully revealed, with a clarity not seen in the pages of a novel since Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. His story is a meditation on justice, bigotry, gun violence, and equity. Read it, perhaps as I did, all night, in one sitting, then look deep into your own community—and into your own heart.”
—Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is simply magical, a heart-wrenching, unconventional tale that moved me from laughter to tears. Denny is a true original, an authentically portrayed protagonist who leaps off the page. His story is irresistible. I want to know him. I want to be his friend. And even though the feel-good ending was perfect, I didn’t want his story to end.”
—Patricia Wood, PhD in disability studies, author of Lottery
“The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is simply magical, a heart-wrenching, unconventional tale that moved me from laughter to tears. Denny is a true original, an authentically portrayed protagonist who leaps off the page. His story is irresistible. I want to know him. I want to be his friend. And even though the feel-good ending was perfect, I didn’t want his story to end.”
—Patricia Wood, PhD in disability studies, author of Lottery
“The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is a coming-of-age story that ticks all my boxes. Beautifully written, authentic characters that will tug at your heart, and the kind of story that will keep you turning the pages long after lights out. It’s the best novel I’ve read in a very long time. Don’t miss this one!”
—Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark and Every Now and Then
About the Author
Born and raised in Canada, Holly Kennedy currently lives near the Rocky Mountains in Alberta with her family and their Newfoundland dog, Wallace. She is the author of four novels, and her books have been translated into multiple languages. When she’s not writing, you’ll typically find her reading, spending time with family, or (her not-so-secret obsession) watching true-crime shows like Dateline. To find out more, visit www.hollykennedy.com, or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS by Holly Kennedy
Lake Union Publishing | April 8, 2025
Trade Paperback | $16.99 | 978-1662525926
Ebook: $3.99 | B0D9PBRHMG
