The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill
The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill
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The Crane Husband

Author: Kelly Barnhill

Narrator: Laura Knight Keating

Unabridged: 3 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 06/27/2023


Synopsis

Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill brings her singular talents to a raw, powerful fable 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.

But when her mom brings home a six-foot-tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to stop him forcing his way into their lives and her mom’s heart.

Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, she abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands.

In this stunning contemporary retelling of “The Crane Wife” by the author of When Women Were Dragons and The Girl Who Drank the Moon, a fiercely pragmatic teen forced to grow up faster than was fair will do whatever it takes to protect her family—and change the story.

About Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill lives in Minnesota with her husband and three children. She is the author of four novels, most recently The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the 2017 John Newbery Medal. She is also the winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Parents' Choice Gold Award, and has been a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award, the SFWA Andre Norton Award, and the PEN/USA literary prize. Visit her online at kellybarnhill.wordpress.com or on Twitter: @kellybarnhill.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jasmine on March 03, 2023

The Crane Husband is a brilliant and lyrical retelling of The Crane Wife. An unnamed fifteen-year-old girl lives with her mother and younger brother on the remains of what used to be family farmland. Now, an intimidating conglomerate owns the farmlands that surround their crumbling property. While h......more

Goodreads review by John on April 15, 2023

My complete review of The Crane Husband is posted at Grimdark Magazine. The Crane Husband is an unsettling folk horror by World Fantasy Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill. This expertly written novella provides a frank depiction of domestic violence within a contemporary reimagining of the tradition......more

Goodreads review by Terrie on July 19, 2023

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill is a Fairy Tale Retelling Blended with Magical Realism and a Sprinkle of Horror! Is it okay to call a story that's dark and troubling fun? To love it despite the hard topics and triggers of domestic violence and passive-aggressive child neglect? You decide... In Mid......more

Goodreads review by Constantine on January 02, 2023

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Magical Realism + Retelling This novella is a retelling of the folktale “The Crane Wife”. The story is narrated by an unnamed 15-year-old girl. She lives with her talented artist mother and her six-year-old brother, Michael, in a farm town. Her mother is constantly working in her s......more