The phenomenal word of mouth bestseller, shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, winner of 5 awards in Sweden including the Swedish Book of the Year and the Swedish Booksellers prize, with rights sold in 39 territories. Uplifting, deeply moving, emotional - this book will stay with you in a remarkable way.
The Sunday Times word-of-mouth bestseller. A profoundly moving and life-affirming novel about one man’s desire to preserve his autonomy, the multitude of stories contained within a life, and the big things for which we have no words.
‘So heartbreaking and funny and beautiful and wise… an extraordinary book’ RICHARD OSMAN
'You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love’ FREDRIK BACKMAN
‘The most moving book I’ve ever read.’ JACQUELINE WILSON
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Waterstones Book of the Month
Bo is determined to live his own life in his own way. But his son has other ideas...
Bo lives a quiet existence in his small rural village in the north of Sweden. He is elderly and his days are punctuated by visits from his care team and his son. Fortunately, he still has his rich memories, phone calls with his best friend Ture, and his beloved dog Sixten for company.
Only now his son is insisting the dog must be taken away. The very same son that Bo is wanting to mend his relationship with before his time is up. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotions and makes Bo determined to resist and find his voice...
'A novel anyone will take to heart' Patrick Gale, Guardian
'A magical reading experience; among the most moving things I’ve ever read' No.1 internationally bestselling author Camilla Läckberg
Readers love When the Cranes Fly South:
'What makes this novel truly remarkable is the way it explores universal themes...readers will find themselves deeply connected to [Bo's] journey of emotional reckoning'
‘It is impossible not to be moved by this book’
'This is not just a story about a man and his dog; it's a story of family, of relationships tested by time and distance, and the effort to find peace within the limits of one's existence'
'A story that will connect to all of us in some way'
'Not only touches the heart but also invites deep reflection on what it means to truly live and love'
About the Author
The idea for Lisa Ridzen's heartrending debut When the Cranes Fly South came to her through the discovery of notes her Grandfather's care team had left the family as he neared the end of his life. She was also inspired by her research into masculinity in the rural communities of the Swedish far north, where she herself was raised and now lives in a small village outside stersund.
Lisa began penning the novel whilst attending L ngholmen Writer's Academy. When the Cranes Fly South was a number one bestseller in Sweden, won the overall Swedish Book of the Year, and the Adlibris prize both for Debut and Fiction of the Year - the first time in the awards' history that an author won in two categories. Rights have sold in 38 languages around the world.
Industry Reviews
A tender tale about ageing, our own and others, and the quiet brutality of love. About what being a man is, and what being a human is, about fathers and sons and fathers and dogs. It’s really a book for anyone who’s had to say goodbye. The kind of book you give to someone when you’re really trying to say "I’ve been thinking about you" but don’t know how.
Fredrik Backman, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove
This novel is irresistible. So tender and moving. It’s as if Fredrik Backman’s Ove had a love child with Åsa Larsson’s Sivving – and the result is the most wonderful thing imaginable. Read it.
Malin Persson Giolito, internationally bestselling author of Quicksand and Beyond all reasonable doubt
A powerful, sneakily emotional meditation on life and death, and the foundational relationships in our lives. This is a book that will echo in your soul.
Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain
This was a magical reading experience; among the most moving things I’ve ever read. The characters have lived on in my mind since I turned the final page, and I know this novel will always have a place in my heart.
Camilla Läckberg, No.1 internationally bestselling author
It’s one of those "you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love" books.
New Yorker
This empathetic Swedish bestseller is a poignant, quietly devastating meditation on old age.
Mail on Sunday
Once you’ve read this beautiful and deeply emotional story, you’ll want to pass it on to someone you love.
Fabulous Magazine
When the Cranes Fly South really touched me... and Sixten completely stole my heart. This story felt universal and timeless – it’s about love and death and family and friendship. Everything that makes us human.
Josie Ferguson, author of The Silence in Between
Sparely written, beautifully put together and very moving . . . A deceptively simple book that packs a massive emotional punch. Highly recommended.
PA Media
Remarkably poignant and reflective . . . A powerful and haunting read, When the Cranes Fly South will stir your emotions
Hot Press Magazine
This profoundly moving novel is sure to melt you into tears faster than a Cornetto in the sunshine ... Poignant, beautifully written and guaranteed to spark introspection.
Woman & Home
There are not many novels that I want to tell you that you should read, but this is one of them. It is a novel about family, how our history shapes our present, and the many different forms that love can take. This is a beautiful and gentle novel about an honest and relatable man who simply wants to live quietly with his dog, and I won’t ever forget it.
NB Magazine
Prepare to be emotionally hijacked.
Grazia
Meditations on memory and fatherhood underpin this tender tale about a man defending his right to live independently.
Financial Times
A powerful read about righting wrongs before it’s too late.
Good Housekeeping
This profoundly moving novel is sure to melt you into tears faster than a Cornetto in the sunshine . . . Poignant, beautifully written and guaranteed to spark introspection
Woman's Weekly
Through lucid, observant writing, Ridzén conveys the lack of autonomy allowed to elderly people in a heartfelt novel that gives voice to a sensitively realised old man.
Irish Times
A novel anyone will take to heart. A simple yet effective meditation on mortality, love and care... Lisa Ridzén’s debut demonstrates how sometimes the simplest storytelling can be the most effective. Anyone anywhere who has worried for a crumbling parent, or worried about the crumble in themselves, or simply worried that their dog understood them better than their family, will identify with Ridzén’s novel.
Patrick Gale, Guardian
The most moving book I’ve ever read – heart-breaking but also heart-warming.
Jacqueline Wilson
A searing insight into holding onto identity and love.
Sainsburys magazine
[Cranes] gripped my heart and didn't let go...incredibly moving and life-affirming.
Sarah Turner, author of On the Edge
[When the Cranes Fly South] gripped my heart and didn't let go... incredibly moving and life-affirming
Sarah Turner, author of On The Edge
A book that you'll fall in love with and want everyone to read... poignant and heartfelt
Prima
So heartbreaking and funny and beautiful and wise… an extraordinary book
Richard Osman
The book is a sweet yet unsentimental meditation on ageing, dignity and love; after reading it, you want to press into the hands of everyone you know.
i Paper
