When the Cranes Fly South

Lisa Ridzén author Alice Menzies translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd

Published:15th May '25

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When the Cranes Fly South cover

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

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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
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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'

So heartbreaking and funny and beautiful and wise… an extraordinary book * Richard Osman *
The most moving book I’ve ever read – heart-breaking but also heart-warming. * Jacqueline Wilson *
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 *
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 empathetic Swedish bestseller is a poignant, quietly devastating meditation on old age. * Mail on Sunday *
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 *
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 *
Meditations on memory and fatherhood underpin this tender tale about a man defending his right to live independently. * Financial Times *
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 *
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 *

ISBN: 9781529942200

Dimensions: 215mm x 134mm x 24mm

Weight: 318g

320 pages