When the Cranes Fly South
2024 debut novel by Lisa Ridzén

When the Cranes Fly South (Swedish: Tranorna flyger söderut) is the 2024 debut novel by the Swedish author Lisa Ridzén. It follows an elderly man who attempts to mend his relationship with his son. It was translated into English by Alice Menzies. The book was the 2024 recipient of the Swedish Book of the Year award.
Author
Lisa Ridzén was born on 4 March 1988. She grew up in the village of Hegled in rural Jämtland; both her parents were teachers. She studied gender studies and sociology at Umeå University, and is taking her PhD at Mid Sweden University. Tranorna flyger söderut is her first book.
Plot
When the Cranes Fly South tells the tale of an 89-year-old man, Bo, nearing the end of his life. He worked for 50 years in a local sawmill and now lives alone with his Jämthund, Sixten, in rural Jämtland, some 550 kilometres north of Stockholm.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q136650035. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024 and 1988.
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This entry incorporates text from “When the Cranes Fly South” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.