One of the best books of this year is a quiet little novel in translation that was Sweden's Book of the Year in 2024.
Lisa Ridzen’s When the Cranes Fly South tells the story of Bo, an elderly man facing his final weeks of life. Bo may be physically weak, but he is incredibly strong-willed and determined to live life his own way, right up to the very end.
Bo’s son, Hans, though, has other ideas. In his attempt to protect his father’s failing health and mobility, Hans insists that Bo’s beloved elkhound, Sixten, be taken away to live with a family that can better care for him. Bo resists this idea with every fiber of fight he has left, and the novel conveys the older man’s anger and heartbreak at losing control over his life.
Ridzen has said her debut novel was inspired by notes that her aging grandfather’s care team left the family as he neared the end of his life. Similar notes punctuate When the Cranes Fly South, with journal entries from various caregivers noting Bo’s mood or appetite, or whether he agreed to take a shower. But the bulk of the story is told from Bo’s perspective and loosely addressed to his wife, who recently was placed in a care home because of her worsening dementia. Bo gripes about the aging process, and he shares vivid memories of his life as a child, a young man and a father struggling to be a responsible and loving parent.
The curmudgeonly main character and Scandinavian setting may draw comparisons to Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove. But that’s where the likeness ends.
When the Cranes Fly South is incredibly sad, but it begs to be read and reflected upon, especially by anyone facing their own mortality or caring for an aging relative. Ridzen’s writing is understated and profoundly moving. It speaks to our human need for autonomy and agency, and the right of every person to be treated with dignity.
