When the Cranes Fly South: The most moving book you’ll read this year - Softcover

Ridzén, Lisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1804995800 ISBN 13: 9781804995808

Publisher: Penguin, 2026

Synopsis

THE PHENOMENAL SUNDAY TIMES WORD-OF-MOUTH BESTSELLER. A profoundly moving and life-affirming novel about the multitude of stories contained within a life, and the big things for which we have no words.

A WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026

‘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, 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'

* COVERS MAY VARY

About this title

About the Author

Lisa Ridzén (Author)
The idea for Lisa Ridzén’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 Östersund.

Lisa began penning the novel whilst attending Lċngholmen 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 45 languages around the world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1804995800
• ISBN 13: 9781804995808
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320