The Crane Wife

by Patrick Ness

[nannah]

Here I was at the beginning of the book, throughout the middle, and even 3/4, thinking this would be a solid 3 stars and with an ehhhh slipping out of my mouth, and then I got to part V.

Ok, on the surface, The Crane Wife tells the story of a family growing older and losing and finding love. But then there's also a lyrical myth about a 'lady' and a 'volcano' intertwined with this narrative that just seems confusing at first. Trust me, keep going, because it all makes sense at the end.

The story told between chapters is something of an age-old war between two forces, named the 'lady' and the 'volcano'. They both love and hate each other. The volcano destroys, and the lady forgives. The only way to end this feud is for them to end each other's lives--but of course, they can't bring themselves to do it.

What makes this book great is how the contemporary story and the myth combine (and for me, I really only got it in part V). These characters each become the lady or the volcano, and play out the roles, continuing the myth on and on and on. Basically, the myth itself was searching for people who had the capacity to fulfill its ending, and had been recycling through different people until it found the right ones--which happened to be the ones in this book.

So, though I never really got the whole picture till the end, that whole picture was beautiful and I really can't help but love it.