The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

The Blurb On The Back:

One night, George Duncan – a decent man, a good man – is woken by a noise in his garden. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly off, his life is transformed.

The next day, a kind but enigmatic woman walks into George’s shop. Suddenly a new world opens up for him, especially when she starts to tell him the most extraordinary story …

Wise, romantic, magical and funny, The Crane Wife is a hymn to the creative imagination and a celebration of the disruptive and redemptive power of love.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Multi-award winning children’s and YA author Patrick Ness turns to adult literary fiction in this deft but slim tale that draws on Japanese folklore. It’s an interesting book that works better in some respects than others and while it kept me turning the pages, it’s not particularly deep or meaningful and the central romance (and the reason for its failure) never really came off the page for me. It’s worth a read, but I must say that to date, I prefer Ness’s children’s and YA work.

Thanks to Amazon Vine for the free copy of this book.