Audiobook Review - When Cranes Fly South

Title: When the Cranes Fly South

Author: Lisa Ridzen

(Translated by Alice Menzies)

Publisher: Vintage

Genre: Literary Fiction

{Thank you @prhaudio for the #gifted audiobook of When the Cranes Fly South by Swedish author Lisa Ridzen.  It’s narrated by Ifan Huw Dafydd who was suberb!  Out 8/19}

Let me forewarn you that this book is quite sad, but it’s also deeply human and so incredibly real.  It’s quietly reflective.  Vulnerable.  Perhaps it will make you think of your parents getting older and maybe yourself too.  I think it will make think of others more and hopefully the compassion we can show others.  Tell someone you love them before it’s too late!

“I don’t know when it happened that we’ve switched roles.”

When the Cranes Fly South is told from the main character Bo’s POV—it feels like an inner monologue—or as if he is talking to his wife who is in a home for dementia.  There are a couple of entries dispersed throughout, of notes from his caregivers.  Bo is coming to terms with his son Hans being in charge of his life, the need for adult diapers and not being able to take care of his beloved dog—Sixten.

This one gave me vibes of—A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. 

—Book Summary—

Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company … though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years.