I found this book very hard to read in as much that I gave up reading it mainly it is not really my style of book. Thank you for allowing me to have the opportunity of reading it. The several chapters I read were very well written.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. It is a beautiful story set in Sweden. Bo, is an old man who is in his final months. His wife us in a care home with dementia and no longer recognises him or their son, Hans. Daily carers visit Bo everyday and Hans is also a frequent visitor. Bo, tells some of his story through his memories of growing up, meeting his wife, having their son and his friend Ture etc. The story is both nostralgic, sad and happy. A real emotional read.

Another beautiful book from Sweden. I was told that fans of A Man call Ove would like this and they were right.
Bo is reaching the end of his life and mainly sleeps. He is visited by his care workers and his son, Hans. His wife has since departed to a care home as she has severe dementia and no longer recognises him. They both need a lot of care and the decision was made. Now Hans is telling him that his beloved dog and companion, Sixten will be better off in a family home as he needs lots of exercise which Bo cannot give him. Bo feels like everyone is telling him what to do.
While he asleep he dreams of various things, his stern father, his docile mother, his wife and their early years together, Hans when he was little. His friendship with Ture, a colleague of his, whose friendship has endured.
The book sees Bo slowly decline and various things happen to those around him.
A lovely book which will leave you with a tear in your eye.

What a wonderful book that made me cry at so many places. The story is all about BO who is 80 and at the start is almost housebound and goes through with him to the end his life. He has lost his wife to the dreaded dementia and she is in a care home but as she does not recognise him anymore he does not want to go in to see her as it is so upsetting for him. I love the flashbacks to his growing up with his parents and the life with his wife and son and his continual comparison of both. Did I like Hans, Bo's son, yes and no as he is depicted as both caring and realistic with no indepth thoughts of his dad. The whole story is an emotional ride that really tugged at my heart. Any reader who has bee involved with aged family members or any with dementia will relate to this beautifully told story. The perspective given all along of how the carers relate to him, how he changes from removing his nappy to knowing that he needs it but above all the dignity expressed throughout of how the person facing the end of life feels and eventually copes with new understandings and hopes for the ever after.
Lisa has captured agism so well and expressed it in a way that any readers can feel for Bo and any friends or relatives that they have faced with the same situations. A book to be shared with others and one that will stay with me for many many years as I myself age and need to look after my mother. I now understand more about both sides of the process.

This is a novel about old age - not the period after retirement, but the very last years and months of life, when - no matter how you turn it - for most people there is little left to enjoy. The body and mind start to fail, friends and family fall away and the world becomes really small.

The book is told from the perspective of 89 year old Bo. It's not easy for him - all he has left is his dog, one good friend and his son and granddaughter that try to visit often, but seem to have become overly concerned for him.

Bo can't really take care of the dog anymore, so he risks this last bit of joy being taken away from him. He has also never been able to talk with his son. And the world around him is changing too rapidly to keep up...

It makes Bo a grumpy old man at times, but also a very realistic and confronting portrait of an ending life.

This book is a soft ache wrapped in warmth 💔✨.
It's about aging gracefully, quiet love, and those unspoken moments that leave a mark 💬🕰️. Sixten the dog 🐾 completely stole my heart… and Bo?
He shattered it and pieced it back together with the most fragile tenderness 🧩.

As I turned each page 📖, I felt this story settle deep in my chest. I cried when Bo’s son came for Sixten 🥺, felt every head scratch 🐶, every moment of stillness shared between a man and
his loyal companion. Bo...an elderly man with a soul full of memories 🧠🧡...just wants to hold on to his dog and repair what's broken with his son 🧒.
And when that bond is threatened, it wakes something powerful inside him.
This isn’t just a story about old age...
It’s about life 🌅, forgiveness 🤝, dignity 👴,
and the quiet power of love ❤️.
I don’t usually cry at the end of books… but this one? I bawled like a baby 😭.

When the Cranes Fly South is heartachingly beautiful. Set in a rural area of Sweden, the story revolves around eighty-nine year old Bo. His wife no longer lives at home and is at a nursing home due to dementia. His own body and mind are gradually failing him. He is looked after by carers and his only companion is his dog Sixten.

It is due to Bo's frailty that Bo's son Hans has to take Sixten away. It is this profound loss of companionship that broke my heart into pieces. There is more heartache to come and the book eventually left me hollow.

The narrative encapsulates Bo's innermost thoughts; his loss of dignity when being cared for, childhood trauma, the scent of his wife's scarf that he cherishes and other general reflections on his life.

When the Cranes Fly South is one of those books that will resonate with the reader and will no doubt leave a lasting impact.

A gentle story that is about the love between a dying father and his son. Bo's wife is in a care home lost to dimentia. He lives alone with his beloved dog Sixten in the countryside. He receives several carer visits each day whose short reports are recorded. Bo reminisces about his harsh relationship with his father and worries about how good a father he has been to his owns son Hans. Hans visits often and is at odds with his father about the care of the dog. An enjoyable read..

This is a story about 89 years old Bo who is nearing the end of his life and is being supported and cared for by carers and his son. His wife has been moved to a care home as she has dementia.

I found this book so profoundly moving and it made me sob!
It's about relationships, pets, regrets, love, children, marriage and so much more

"I don’t want to leave anything unsaid. That I don’t want it to be like it was with my old man. For some strange reason, I’m not angry any more"

Beautiful. Moving look at home care and an independent old man looking back on his life.

In some ways Bo is ready to die - he's losing control of his bladder. He can't wash up any more. His much-loved wife is is a care home with dementia, leaving him with a scarf that smells of her in a jar.

But he also has some fight left in him. To keep his dog, that his son Hans thinks should go to a family who can walk him.

Mixing past and present, Bo shows us the love, the work, the friendship that has made up his life. How his early life affected him, how his deep love for Fredrika and work friend Ture helped him as an adult, the joy of parenthood, and the sadness of seeing himself and his family age.

It's a book where tears prick your eyes regularly. Thinking of yourself ageing. Your parents. Your children. It's relevant to us all.

I really liked the inclusion of the carers' notes on Bo's daily food, mood and activities - apparently the inspiration for the book. Bringing the clinical side of things next to the personal story.

I also really liked Bo. He's all of us in our future, in one form or another. Left with memories and a broken-down body. Facing death and his last days.

So nice to see his home carers portrayed with dignity and love as well - their busy work lives still mean they have hearts and do what they can for patients and their families.

Really quite beautifully written.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

When The Cranes Fly South is an outstanding and beautifully touching account of the end of life, told from the perspective of the person who is experiencing it. An incredible book not least for the very poignant and emotive writing style but also for the very human and very down to earth characters. To add to the emotion even more, a dog is central to the storyline – and the importance of human connection with animals. It’s a bittersweet story but one that will stay in the hearts of readers for a very long time, probably forever.

I defy anyone not to be moved to tears when they read this magical book. I blubbered more than once - it is a paean to the author’s ability to make you walk in the characters’ shoes, to the vital role carers play, to the abyss of undeclared love. It acts as a crystal ball to the future of everyone of us, especially the loss of independence, however necessary. The descriptions of how men were (and are) imprisoned by social norms and their elderly regret is heartbreaking, as is the loss of a partner to dementia, that cruel disease that takes a mother from her children and husband and friends.
But it is not a depressing read – happiness and joy shine through. Friendship is shared and the kindness and humanity of carers so well captured. But have tissues handy.

What a beautiful, heartfelt book. Reminding the reader of the approach of old age and the loss of freedom that comes with that. The long hours to spend remembering the good times, and the bad. Wondering what might have been different. The reliance on other people as your strength fades, the resentment. And probably above all, friends. Who you realise you didn't know everything about - and your dog, who loves you without question or limit, who you love with all your heart. My heart broke as I read on - I'm sure others could hear it breaking.

My standout read of the year so far, I loved this book!

The story centres around Bo, in his late eighties, now frail and needing daily support from carers with personal care, meals and medication. Bo's wife has dementia and lives in residential care some miles away. So ravaged by the disease, she no longer recognizes her husband. Bo lives for his adored elkhound Sixten, however his son Hans wants to take Sixten away, saying Bo can no longer care for the animal. Bo feels he has lost control over everything and is determined to do all he can to keep his four-legged best friend. But how can he, when the only weapon left is his stubbornness?

This is an exquisitely written, powerful tale of relationships, unspoken words and the desire not to leave anything unsaid. It tells of the conflict between declining physical health and the mind, still thinking we are more capable than we actually are. How, as children, we make decisions for our parents, certain we are acting in their best interests when sometimes there is another way.

Bo's life, from childhood, his strained relationship with his own father, to meeting his beloved Frederika and becoming a father himself is cleverly told through a series of 'dreams' and reflections. Bo's limitations and his journey toward the end is sensitively detailed through a series of notes his carers leave in a log book, alongside his interactions with Hans and his granddaughter Ellinor.

Lisa Ridzen has crafted a beautiful, sad (yes I did shed a tear) but heartwarming story that will stay with me for a very long time.

With much appreciation to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for an early Kindle copy of this book.

This was a good read, though it would be difficult to say it was enjoyable, covering such a heartfelt subject. It reminded me of Being Mortal, the magnificent non-fiction book by Atul Gawande. In Being Mortal he talks about ageing and how important it is for elderly people be given as much support and autonomy as possible when their health is starting to deteriorate; this novel is a story based on that, concentrating on Bo, an elderly gentleman, his wife is now in care so his dog is his main source of comfort and company. He narrates about a steady stream of care staff and occasional family visits, in between telling us of his life as a younger man and child. The historical bits interested me less, and I tended to skim them a little, but the current day parts of the book were riveting.
There are plenty of lessons here about appreciating life and those around you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I would compare this book to Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, very similar melancholic (borderline depressing) tones with beautiful writing. Both are super easy to read in a day but for the most part enjoyable.

What I found the most interesting (despite this not being the main premise of the book) was the discussions around dementia. Bo clearly considers the essence of the person he married to be dead once she is sent to a care home. He grieves his very much alive wife by writing this book to her former self. The distinction between her two characters was really striking to read about.

This book did a really good job of writing from an elderly perspective, pointing out how we tend to antagonise and infantilise them because they seem vulnerable, despite the fact they have experienced so much more than us.

The flashbacks to different moments of Bo's life intertwined with him dozing off were seamless and really reminded me of Chaucer's dream visions, but that might just be because of the 9 hour exam I had on those 3 days ago.

The ending felt predictable, but also intentional. Whilst I felt the book became stagnant at points because Bo's age prevented him from doing much, this still had a decent emotional impact by the end. I could definitely see the being a new sad girl summer book this year.

A beautifully written debut novel written by an author who shows great understanding of someone who's life is about to end and the caring they receive. Add to that the patients great love for a dog and you have a very touching novel. I have read many Scandinavian translations and credit most go to the translator of this novel for opening up a much larger potential audience to enjoy a touching story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Thanks to Lisa Ridzén and NetGalley for this ARC!

This one was a really topically difficult but beautiful read for me. Conversations about age, mortality and autonomy that really stopped me in my tracks. Gorgeously written.

It took me some time to get properly involved and invested in this book but once I did the words just flowed past.

Bo's wife is in a care home suffering with dementia. His son insists they visit even though she has no knowledge of who they are; and it brings Bo more pain into his life made bearable only by his dog, Sixten.dog

He relies on carers to meet his daily needs. From feeding, bathing and toileting. Strangers who work to a schedule. For an old man who was used to independence this is not how he saw his life reaching his end of days.

I am not altogether certain that Bo realises he is dying. His thoughts are full of his dog and was he a good husband and father. Or good enough.

Tears are inevitable.

This Swedish novel is a beautiful evocation of what it’s like to be very old and relying on paid careers and your family.
It’s also about Bo’s life and his past relationships with his son, his wife (now in care home) and his own parents.
It’s told partly in Bo’s voice and partly through the written notes his carers make when they visit him.
It’s sad and rings very true. Issues such as whether Bo is capable of looking after his beloved dog are dealt with in a very real way.
We are always aware that we are seeing life through the perspective of Bo rather than his family, and that’s not always a comfortable position to be in.
Recommended if you are prepared to have your heart broken!