Patrick Ness is best known as a writer for children and young people, but he’s also written two novels for adults: The Crash of Hennington and The Crane Wife. The Crane Wife was published in 2013, and is a loose retelling of a Japanese folktale of the same name. Ness relocates the story to contemporary London, making the protagonist a middle-aged divorcee who works in a printing shop (also, like Ness himself, an American in Britain). It’s something of an experiment, with mixed success, but still a lot to enjoy.
The story begins one night, when George Duncan wakes after hearing a noise in his garden. He goes out to find a white crane whose wing has been hit with an arrow. After taking it out, the crane flies away, and the next day he meets a woman called Kumiko at his shop. The two of them fall in love, and quickly become rich after collaborating on artworks – a series of tiles using feathers from Kumiko and George’s cut-outs from books. George’s daughter Amanda isn’t sure what to think until she befriends Kumiko and finds herself bewitched, but Kumiko has a mysterious past, and George is desperate to know more.
Rather than chapters, the book is divided into five parts, and within each of those are short sections that switch point-of-view between the various characters. There are sections that are entirely dialogue, and others that, in a different font, tell the story that Kumiko is making in the tiles. This approach has benefits and drawbacks. It keeps the pace brisk and allows a range of styles, but makes the narrative seem choppy, with little space to linger on details. It works more than it doesn’t, though, and is interesting at the very least.
The characters are likeable and well-rounded. Notably, there are no real villains, with most of the conflict of the story coming from how the characters react to Kumiko. It’s a light read, but doesn’t shy away from difficult things when they come up. Ness can certainly write, crafting poetic prose that just about manages to stay on the right side of being overwrought. He creates a strong sense of myth and mystery that contrasts well with the mundane setting. My favourite part was the story of Kumiko’s tiles, a story-within-a-story that reveals some of Kumiko’s past while being a powerful and tragic fable in its own right.
Ness recounts in the acknowledgements section how he was first told the story of the crane wife by his Japanese-American kindergarten teacher when he was 5. Later in life, he heard the album The Crane Wife by The Decemberists (who he calls ‘the greatest band in the world’), which in turn inspired the novel. The two inspirations come together in the way he fuses together a childlike wonder at storytelling with the realities of the adult world. It’s a potent mix, elevated by the spirit of kindness and compassion that resides at the heart of Ness’s work. While it may not be perfect, it’s definitely worth reading.
Review by Charlie Alcock
Rather than chapters, the book is divided into five parts, and within each of those are short sections that switch point-of-view between the various characters. There are sections that are entirely dialogue, and others that, in a different font, tell the story that Kumiko is making in the tiles. This approach has benefits and drawbacks. It keeps the pace brisk and allows a range of styles, but makes the narrative seem choppy, with little space to linger on details. It works more than it doesn’t, though, and is interesting at the very least.
The characters are likeable and well-rounded. Notably, there are no real villains, with most of the conflict of the story coming from how the characters react to Kumiko. It’s a light read, but doesn’t shy away from difficult things when they come up. Ness can certainly write, crafting poetic prose that just about manages to stay on the right side of being overwrought. He creates a strong sense of myth and mystery that contrasts well with the mundane setting. My favourite part was the story of Kumiko’s tiles, a story-within-a-story that reveals some of Kumiko’s past while being a powerful and tragic fable in its own right.
Ness recounts in the acknowledgements section how he was first told the story of the crane wife by his Japanese-American kindergarten teacher when he was 5. Later in life, he heard the album The Crane Wife by The Decemberists (who he calls ‘the greatest band in the world’), which in turn inspired the novel. The two inspirations come together in the way he fuses together a childlike wonder at storytelling with the realities of the adult world. It’s a potent mix, elevated by the spirit of kindness and compassion that resides at the heart of Ness’s work. While it may not be perfect, it’s definitely worth reading.
Review by Charlie Alcock
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