The Crane Husband
"If I had to nominate a worthy successor to Angela Carter, I would nominate Kelly Barnhill. "--Laura Ruby, two-time National Book Award finalist and author of Bone Gap
"A slim little novella that packs a narrative punch more intense than that of many books ten times its length."--NPR Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill brings her singular talents to The Crane Husband, a raw, powerful story of love, sacrifice, and family. "Mothers fly away like migrating birds. This is why farmers have daughters." A fifteen-year-old teenager is the backbone of her small Midwestern family, budgeting the household finances and raising her younger brother while her mom, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries. For six years, it's been just the three of them--her mom has brought home guests at times, but none have ever stayed. Yet when her mom brings home a six-foot tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to prevent her mom letting the intruder into her heart, and her children's lives. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, her mom abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands. In this stunning contemporary retelling of "The Crane Wife" by the Newbery Medal-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon, one fiercely pragmatic teen forced to grow up faster than was fair will do whatever it takes to protect her family--and change the story.Show more
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
The search for meaning has complicated so many lives in the Americas. In this fable, a child watches her mother self destruct in the name of art. And yet, the story is sweet and the writing is beautiful.
The Crane Husband is a dark and emotional tale of a 15 year old girl who is basically the parent to her 5 year old brother and irresponsibly selfish mother. She manages to just barely keep them all housed and fed by selling her mother’s tapestries and homemade cheese until her mother brings a new man around, which she often does, but this time he stays and he’s also a Crane. The crane (or man) is abusive and soon her mother becomes obsessed with...read more
Thank you NetGalley and Tordotcom for the chance to read and review the extraordinary piece, The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill!
At around 128 pages, The Crane Husband can no longer be called a novella. And yet this short novel weaves together a tale that other authors fail to do in 10 times that number of pages.
"Cranes are mean. Cruel, you know? Just ask any frog or fish in the pond. A crane is a predator just like any other predator—sneaky,...read more
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.