FICTION

The Crane Wife

by Patrick Ness
Penguin Pr. Jan. 2014. 320p. ISBN 9781594205477. $26.95. F
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George Duncan is an American-born Englishman who owns a print shop in London. His quiet, polite life—one that eventually bored or irritated every woman with whom George has ever been in a relationship, including his ex-wife—pauses in awe and wonder when one night he discovers a great white crane in his garden, an arrow piercing its wing. George pulls the arrow from the crane's wing, and the bird flies away, leaving him bewildered. The following day, Kumiko, a mysterious woman, appears in George's shop with strange and haunting artwork made of feather cuttings. George and his daughter, a single mother disappointed in life and people, find their lives changed by Kumiko's loyal companionship and love.
VERDICT Ness (Monsters of Men; A Monster Calls) fashions his mosaic of prose, piecing narrative with snips of a myth-like fable to create a bittersweet story of loss and love. The narrative pace will keep the pages turning, while the imagery and metaphors wound throughout will stay with readers long after they close the book. Fans of Ness's previous works, as well as readers of literary speculative fiction, will enjoy this lovely novel. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/13.]
Reviewed by Shannon Greene, Greenville Technical Coll. Lib., SC , Jan 01, 2014
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