When the Cranes Fly South - Lisa Ridzén - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Lisa Ridzén

TRANSLATOR: Alice Menzies

NARRATOR: Ifan Huw Dafydd

GENRE: Literary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemplative literary fiction about a geriatric dealing with the vagaries of old age. Contemplative, melancholic, realistic, heartbreaking. Beautifully written with no filters about aging issues. This is a mood read, but if you pick it up at the right time, it can deliver all the feels. Not for those looking for uplifting stories; the book is mostly bleak.

Plot Preview:

Sweden. Eighty-nine-year-old Bo has only his dog Sixten for company in his home. His wife Frederika has Alzheimer’s, because of which their son Hans admitted her in a care home some time ago, even though Bo wasn’t too happy about this decision. Now Hans feels that Bo is too old to take care of Sixten and wants to take the dog away as well. Not surprisingly, Bo is very upset.

The whole narrative comes to us in Bo’s first-person perspective, reflecting upon his lost happy past, his uncertain present, and his unseen future.

I wasn’t sure if this book would be my cup of tea, especially at this stage of my life where I am almost in Hans’ shoes, caring with senior parents, one of whom is struggling with dementia. Plus, the poor experience I had with another dementia-related book that’s quite popular this season, Tory Henwood Hoen’s “Before I Forget”, made me hesitant. It is only on seeing my friends’ consistent positive reviews that I decided to succumb. I don’t regret it.

This book was originally published in 2024 in Swedish under the title “Tranorna flyger söderut”. A debut work, it was conceptualised by the author after discovering the notes left by her grandfather’s care team towards the end of his life. The translation is impeccable, true to the setting and the characters.

This is the kind of book where I have so much to say and yet I don’t know where to begin. How do I describe a book that is almost like one endless flow of thought? That depicts the strength of the aged despite their frailty? That offers a hint of what might await us a few decades down the line? The plot contains so little and yet encompasses so much!

Through his first-person POV, Bo takes us through many emotions, be it anger at Hans for planning to take Sixten away, or embarrassment at being dependent on carers for his intimate needs, or heartbreak at Frederika’s not being able to recognise her loved ones anymore, or joy at his interactions with his best friend (I couldn’t catch his exact name on audio), or regret at not having had a good relationship with his late father, or anxiety that he won't be able to tell his son everything he wants to before his time comes.

It’s interesting that Bo also has age-related memory loss, but his wife is at a much worse stage of dementia thanks to her Alzheimer’s. As such, Bo is facing the critical in-between where he remembers more than his wife though he doesn’t remember everything and is worried about forgetting their lifetime of togetherness. We can see that his mind is still fairly capable despite the little memory misses, but his body isn't that cooperative anymore. Bo’s frustration at this gap is heartbreaking.

All of Bo’s reminiscences are straight from his heart, helping us know not just him but also the other characters intimately. We get a clear glimpse of his thoughts about his wife, his son, his granddaughter, his late parents, and his various carers. I love that Bo speaks to his wife Frederika regularly, not at the care home but at his own home, as if she is still there by his side.

Given that we get the story in Bo’s first person, he is the only character we see for most of the book. Others, such as his carers and his son, come and go around him, but Bo remains the constant. As such, his feelings become ours. His helplessness feels like our helplessness; his hurt, our hurt. It is really sad to see how Sixten is always on his mind, even though we can see how Bo couldn’t meet all of his elkhound’s needs.

There are little interludes in between Bo’s thoughts, containing the journal notes from the carers who visit his house. These are excellent additions to the plot, letting us see what Bo doesn’t tell us directly.

It is very easy to take Bo’s side while reading this story and to think of Hans as the antagonist for not understanding his father’s feelings and for not allowing him to keep his dog. But being in the same position myself, I found myself feeling sorry for Hans and sympathetic to his dilemma. It is challenging to be in a position where you are forced to take tough decisions for the wellbeing of your parents, especially if they fight you tooth and nail against it.

Bo’s narrative depicts how old age involves not just the loss of memory, but also the loss of movement, of companionship, of independence, and of dignity. This kind of book can hit hard, making us ponder over our own future and wondering what lies in store for us when our time comes. Several scenes felt too close to home for me as I see my father going through the same. The author deserves credit for portraying the quandary so many senior citizens find themselves it without turning it into a voyeuristic endeavour. Her writing (along with the translation) is both simple and sensitive.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 7 hrs 24 min, is narrated by Ifan Huw Dafydd. His voice suited Bo excellently, and he was able to convey all the emotions and vulnerability properly. However, the nature of the content is such that I kept zoning out of the narration. An extended first-person introspective narration feels almost like stream of consciousness, even if it involves brief interactions with other characters. While I can find no fault in the narrator’s performance, I think I'd have liked the book even better if I had read it with my eyeballs than with my ears.

Overall, this poignant book delivers exactly as promised. Emotional without being mawkish, it offers an honest look at end-of-life thoughts and regrets.

This is a story packed with much emotion and minimal action. Anyone seeking a more thrilling read might find this rambling and dull. But readers who appreciate character-driven literary fiction will find this an insightful and thought-provoking novel.

Definitely recommended to literary fiction readers who are more attuned to character-driven slow-paced narratives. It is an intense read, so better not pick this up when you are in a vulnerable headspace.