When the Cranes Fly South

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Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left; his body is failing him and his quiet existence is only broken up by the daily visits from his home care team. His hands soon too weak to open the precious jar housing the scarf of his Alzheimer-stricken wife Frederika, which still bears her scent. Fortunately he still has his beloved dog Sixten for company, only now his son insists upon taking the dog 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 that make him look back at his life, his fatherhood and the way he expresses his love.

An international sensation, When the Cranes Fly South is a profoundly moving debut about an ageing man’s fight to keep the power over his own life.

'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, bestselling author of A Man Called Ove

'A book that will echo in your soul' Garth Stein

'As if Fredrik Backman’s Ove had a love child with Åsa Larsson’s Sivving' Malin Persson Giolito

© Lisa Ridzén 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025