By Patrick Ness
The Crane Wife is not a re-telling of the Japanese folk tale in the usual sense but Ness’s unique and powerful novel makes me want to read folk tales again.
I loved this book for many reasons: the lyrical, poetic writing, the fully dimensional characters and the meditation on love and truth. But I also loved the book for the fully bits that root the book in the reality of life here and now as well as for the description of the art work that the two main characters are creating throughout the book. There were times that I put down the book and just lingered in the moment created by the author and other times when I reread a passage over and over.
This dedication by The Decemberists also drew me in;
And all the starts were crashing round
As I laid eyes on what I’d found.
Review by Lee Anne Smith