In the novel Death Comes as the End, Renisenb is the daughter of Imhotep and Ashayet. Some eight years before the events in the book, she married Khay and became the mother of a girl named Teti. When Khay died, Renisenb moved back into her father's household with her daughter. Thus she is present to witness the drama which unfolds when Imhotep brings in a concubine Nofret, a woman even younger than Renisenb herself. The story in the book is told from Renisenb's point of view.
Renisenb and Khay were married for eight years before his death, and for her, these were years filled with "unthinking happiness". After his death, she was left desolate. She told herself that she would not think of it, and would instead think of how she had come home to her father's house, where everything was the same as it had always been. She finds a feeling of security in hearing Yahmose and Sobek arguing in the same way she remembered from her childhood.
Renisenb forms the habit of going up to the Tomb almost every day. She finds that being there gives her "a curious relief and peace", and a feeling "almost of escape".
Renisenb tells Hori that she is afraid, because she feels that evil has come to the house. She expresses the opinion that Nofret is the cause of it, because she is able to say little things which provoke others.
Hori tells Renisenb that Egyptians are obsessed with death because they cannot conceive of a life other than the one they know on earth, and they have no real belief in a God. This surprises Renisenb, who says that they have many Gods, and she herself prefers Isis.
On one occasion, Renisenb sees Sobek killing a cobra. He continues striking it even after it is dead, and she cries out to him to stop. After Sobek leaves, she expresses the opinion that Sobek likes killing things.
One morning, Renisenb finds Nofret standing by the Nile. She asks Nofret if they can be sisters to each other. However, Nofret says that she wants nothing from any of them. Instead of feeling angry, Renisenb sees the hatred and misery that Nofret feels, and thinks how dreadful it must be to feel that way.
When Satipy says that the women of the house will do nothing against Nofret that can be reported, but that Nofret will come to regret coming to the house, Renisenb says that she is cruel. She says that she does not love Nofret, but that Satipy sounds vindictive.
After Nofret's death, Kait says that Satipy was right in saying that a dead concubine is not the same as a live concubine. When Satipy says that she has forgotten what she said, Kait says that it is best, and that she and Renisenb have also forgotten. Renisenb feels that no one should tell her what she should or should not remember, and returns Kait's look with defiance. When Kait says that the women of a household must stand together, Renisenb questions her as to why.
Renisenb notices a change in Satipy's behaviour after Nofret's death, and at Yahmose's request, she asks Henet about it. She also talks to Satipy about it.
Renisenb later sees Satipy fall from the cliff path leading down from the Tomb. Before Satipy dies, Renisenb hears her say, "Nofret". Renisenb later discusses this with Hori, who tells her that she had done nothing to harm Nofret, and so there was nothing in her mind that would rise up against her in judgment.
Hori offers to walk down the cliff path with Renisenb, to ensure that no harm will come to her, and that she will not be afraid. However, Renisenb says that she will walk alone, because if one were to always live in fear, it would be better to die, and so she wants to overcome fear.
Renisenb later finds a necklace of gold beads with gold lions in her room. This necklace had belonged to Nofret, and the discovery of it frightens Renisenb. She shows the necklace to Esa, because she feels that Esa is old, but she will know what to do.
Kameni asks Renisenb to marry him, saying that he will ask her father for her hand in marriage, and he will take her away from the house because it is not safe. Renisenb says that she does not love him, and that she thinks she hates him. She thinks to herself that his strength,Square shoulders, and laughing mouth are attractive, but that she knows nothing of his mind, thoughts, and heart.
Renisenb watches Teti playing, and remembers that in the past, she had felt "a passionate sense of ownership" over her. However, now she realises that Teti is her own person, and that if there is love between them, they will be friends, and if not, they will be strangers.