The Crane Wife
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jamie Glover
-
By:
-
Patrick Ness
About this listen
A magical novel, based on a Japanese folk tale, that imagines how the life of a broken-hearted man is transformed when he rescues an injured white crane that has landed in his backyard.
George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At 48, he owns a small print shop, is divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. All of the women with whom he has relationships eventually leave him for being too nice. But one night he is woken by an astonishing sound - a terrific keening, which is coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a great white crane, a bird taller than even himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird's wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky.
The next morning, a shaken George tries to go about his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books - a harmless, personal hobby - when through the front door of the shop a woman walks in. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature, and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has brought her artwork to him.
Witty, magical, and romantic, The Crane Wife is a story of passion and sacrifice, that resonates on the level of dream and myth. It is a novel that celebrates the creative imagination, and the disruptive power of love.
©2014 Patrick Ness (P)2014 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
More Than This
- By: Patrick Ness
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the acclaimed author of the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls comes one of the most provocative teen novels of our time. A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is this possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? The street seems familiar, but everything is abandoned, overgrown, covered in dust.
-
-
What is reality?
- By Ryan on 12-24-13
By: Patrick Ness
-
A Monster Calls
- Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd
- By: Patrick Ness
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting - he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
-
-
A good "one-timer" for all ages
- By TVNerd95 on 09-10-16
By: Patrick Ness
-
The Crane Wife
- A Memoir in Essays
- By: CJ Hauser
- Narrated by: CJ Hauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten days after calling off her wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, she realized she'd almost signed up to live someone else's life. Hauser releases herself from traditional narratives of happiness and goes looking for ways of living that leave room for the unexpected, making plenty of mistakes along the way. She kisses Internet strangers and officiates at a wedding.
-
-
Laugh, cry and be human
- By Cathy on 07-27-22
By: CJ Hauser
-
Coraline
- By: Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
-
-
Scary, but interesting for both adults and kids
- By Melise on 03-19-08
By: Neil Gaiman
-
Light from Uncommon Stars
- By: Ryka Aoki
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four.
-
-
Awesome with a few hitches.
- By Levi Fay on 10-01-21
By: Ryka Aoki
-
Kingdom of the Wicked
- By: Kerri Maniscalco
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost - even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden. Then, Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child.
-
-
Best Voice Actress for the Book!
- By ABarnes on 12-03-20
By: Kerri Maniscalco
-
More Than This
- By: Patrick Ness
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the acclaimed author of the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls comes one of the most provocative teen novels of our time. A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is this possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? The street seems familiar, but everything is abandoned, overgrown, covered in dust.
-
-
What is reality?
- By Ryan on 12-24-13
By: Patrick Ness
-
A Monster Calls
- Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd
- By: Patrick Ness
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting - he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
-
-
A good "one-timer" for all ages
- By TVNerd95 on 09-10-16
By: Patrick Ness
-
The Crane Wife
- A Memoir in Essays
- By: CJ Hauser
- Narrated by: CJ Hauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten days after calling off her wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, she realized she'd almost signed up to live someone else's life. Hauser releases herself from traditional narratives of happiness and goes looking for ways of living that leave room for the unexpected, making plenty of mistakes along the way. She kisses Internet strangers and officiates at a wedding.
-
-
Laugh, cry and be human
- By Cathy on 07-27-22
By: CJ Hauser
-
Coraline
- By: Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
-
-
Scary, but interesting for both adults and kids
- By Melise on 03-19-08
By: Neil Gaiman
-
Light from Uncommon Stars
- By: Ryka Aoki
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four.
-
-
Awesome with a few hitches.
- By Levi Fay on 10-01-21
By: Ryka Aoki
-
Kingdom of the Wicked
- By: Kerri Maniscalco
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost - even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden. Then, Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child.
-
-
Best Voice Actress for the Book!
- By ABarnes on 12-03-20
By: Kerri Maniscalco
-
The Witch's Heart
- By: Genevieve Gornichec
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology. Angrboda’s story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
-
-
A Masterful Exploration of Norse Myth
- By Catherine A Rector on 02-19-21
-
The Vine of Desire
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
-
-
Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
-
The Secret Keeper
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1959: Laurel Nicolson is 16 years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.
-
-
Kate Morton (and Caroline Lee) does it again!
- By Maria on 10-20-12
By: Kate Morton
-
Before I Go to Sleep
- A Novel
- By: S. J. Watson
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me...." Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to Christine's life.
-
-
A terrifying story
- By Sara on 09-18-13
By: S. J. Watson
-
Ghosted
- A Novel
- By: Rosie Walsh
- Narrated by: Katherine Press
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it's mutual: It's as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn't call. Sarah's friends tell her to forget about him, but she can't. She knows something's happened - there must be an explanation.
-
-
Boring, tedious, not worth my time. I am so aggravated that I preordered this book. It was absurd. Much ado about nothing!
- By Pamela M. on 07-28-18
By: Rosie Walsh
-
On the Other Side
- By: Carrie Hope Fletcher
- Narrated by: Carrie Hope Fletcher
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evie Snow is 82 when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world. But when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her 27-year-old self, and the door won't open. Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through, so she needs to get rid of whatever is making it heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over 50 years.
-
-
Did not enjoy!
- By jacqui lefebvre on 09-08-19
-
Wildflower Hill
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1920s Glasgow, Beattie Blaxland falls pregnant to her married lover Henry just before her nineteenth birthday. Abandoned by her family, Beattie and Henry set sail for a new life in Australia. In 2009, London, prima ballerina Lydia Blaxland-Hunter is also discovering that life can also have its ups and downs. Unable to dance again after a fall, Lydia returns home to Australia to recuperate.
-
-
Story telling at its best!
- By Sara on 05-29-14
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
The Muse
- A Novel
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Maria Elena Infantino
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Institute of Art, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery.
-
-
Mixed narration
- By Amy Fleury on 08-05-16
By: Jessie Burton
-
Queen of Dreams
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rakhi, a young painter and single mother, is struggling to come to terms with her relationship with ex-husband Sonny, a hip Bay Area DJ, and with her dreamteller mother, who has rarely spoken about her past or her native India. Rakhihas her hands full, juggling a creative dry spell, raising her daughter, and trying to save the Berkeley teahouse she and her best friend Belle own. But greater challenges are to come.
-
-
Engaging tale of family relationships
- By Amazon Customer on 03-02-21
-
All We Shall Know
- A Novel
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Sonya Macari
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melody Shee is alone and in trouble. At 33 years old, she finds herself pregnant with the child of a 17-year-old Traveler boy, Martin Toppy, and not by her husband, Pat. Melody was teaching Martin to read, but now he's gone, and Pat leaves, too, full of rage. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming, while the past won't let her go. It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does.
-
-
Breathtakingly beautiful writing.
- By Vistarina on 07-28-17
By: Donal Ryan
-
The Dress Shop of Dreams
- A Novel
- By: Menna van Praag
- Narrated by: Jennifer Carr
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since her parents’ mysterious deaths many years ago, scientist Cora Sparks has spent her days in the safety of her university lab or at her grandmother Etta’s dress shop. Tucked away on a winding Cambridge street, Etta’s charming tiny store appears quite ordinary to passersby, but the colorfully vibrant racks of beaded silks, delicate laces, and jewel-toned velvets hold bewitching secrets: With just a few stitches from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a woman’s deepest desires.
-
-
So charmingly British!
- By Robin on 01-16-15
By: Menna van Praag
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
-
-
A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
-
The Vine of Desire
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
-
-
Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
-
The Muse
- A Novel
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Maria Elena Infantino
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Institute of Art, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery.
-
-
Mixed narration
- By Amy Fleury on 08-05-16
By: Jessie Burton
-
Three Daughters of Eve
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal. Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor.
-
-
Review 3 daughters of Eve
- By CA on 04-28-18
By: Elif Shafak
-
We Are All Made of Stars
- A Novel
- By: Rowan Coleman
- Narrated by: Ben Allen, Avita Jay
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Are All Made of Stars is an unforgettable story about second chances, the power of words, and the resilience of the heart.
-
-
An All-Around 5 Stars!!
- By Trosado on 02-28-20
By: Rowan Coleman
-
Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
-
-
Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
-
Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
-
-
A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
-
The Vine of Desire
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
-
-
Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
-
The Muse
- A Novel
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Maria Elena Infantino
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Institute of Art, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery.
-
-
Mixed narration
- By Amy Fleury on 08-05-16
By: Jessie Burton
-
Three Daughters of Eve
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal. Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor.
-
-
Review 3 daughters of Eve
- By CA on 04-28-18
By: Elif Shafak
-
We Are All Made of Stars
- A Novel
- By: Rowan Coleman
- Narrated by: Ben Allen, Avita Jay
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Are All Made of Stars is an unforgettable story about second chances, the power of words, and the resilience of the heart.
-
-
An All-Around 5 Stars!!
- By Trosado on 02-28-20
By: Rowan Coleman
-
Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
-
-
Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
-
Stories
- All-New Tales
- By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, and others
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
-
-
Something for Everyone
- By Nicole on 05-24-17
By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, and others
-
Gods Behaving Badly
- By: Marie Phillips
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being immortal is not all it once was. Yes, the 12 Greek gods of Olympus are alive and well in the 21st century, but they are crammed together in a London town house: and are none too happy about it. Even more disturbing, their powers are waning.
-
-
Delightful fantasy
- By Mike From Mesa on 12-29-07
By: Marie Phillips
-
Love Walked In
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
-
-
Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
-
Gold Dust
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women linked by their blood, their dreams...and their sins. From Leningrad in the '70s to America and London in the present day, Kimberley Freeman's new novel follows the lives of two sisters, Lena and Natalia, and their cousin, Sofi, as they move away from Russia and all they have known. Despite promising to always take care of each other, a pact to meet every winter is shattered as their lives change and long-held resentments begin to surface. Can that resentment turn to hatred? To murder?
-
-
It's just not the same without Caroline Lee
- By Maria on 12-04-17
-
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
- By: Liz Jensen
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle, Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nine-year-old Louis Drax lies in a coma in a hospital bed, re-living the events that led to his near-fatal fall into a ravine. Despite being attracted to the boy's mother Natalie Drax, Louis' doctor, Pascal Dannachet, begins reluctantly to question her version of Louis' accident and the apparent culpability of her missing husband. As the boy struggles to communicate from within his coma, the chilling truth emerges....
-
-
Intriguing, but easy to figure out
- By Stephanie on 07-12-16
By: Liz Jensen
-
The Secret Keeper
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1959: Laurel Nicolson is 16 years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.
-
-
Kate Morton (and Caroline Lee) does it again!
- By Maria on 10-20-12
By: Kate Morton
-
The Christmas Secret
- By: Karen Swan
- Narrated by: Laura Main
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Hyde is the leaders' leader. An executive coach par excellence, she's the person the great and the good turn to when the pressure gets too much; she can change the way they think, how they operate, she can turn around the very fortunes of their companies.
-
-
Was the narrator Nurse Turner?
- By Sally on 12-24-17
By: Karen Swan
-
Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising.
-
-
Completely wrong accents
- By Debbie on 02-12-22
By: Bianca Marais
-
The Cerulean
- By: Amy Ewing
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sera Lighthaven has always felt as if she didn’t quite belong among her people, the Cerulean, who live in the city above the sky. She is curious about everything - especially the planet her city is magically tethered to - and can’t stop questioning things. Sera has always longed for the day when the tether will finally break and the Cerulean can move to a new planet. But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she feels betrayed by everything in which she’d been taught to trust. In order to save her city, Sera must end her own life.
-
-
Queer Bait
- By Lasheida on 11-05-22
By: Amy Ewing
-
The Woman at 72 Derry Lane
- By: Carmel Harrington
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a leafy suburban street in Dublin, beautiful, poised Stella Greene lives with her successful husband, Matt. They're the perfect couple in every way, and Stella appears to have it all. Next door, at number 72, however, lives Rea Brady. Gruff, bad tempered and rarely seen besides the twitching of her net curtains, rumour has it she's lost it all...including her marbles, if you believe the neighbourhood gossip. But appearances can be deceiving, and when Stella and Rea's worlds collide they realise they have much in common.
-
-
So much emotion, I was not prepared
- By RedLady on 08-29-18
-
Evergreen Falls
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction and a place where two women's lives are changed forever. 1926: Violet Armstrong is one of the few remaining members of staff working at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel as it closes down over winter. Only a handful of guests are left, including the heir to a rich grazing family, his sister and her suave suitor. When a snowstorm moves in, the hotel is cut off and they are all trapped. No-one could have predicted what would unfold.
-
-
Soooo Boring
- By Merford on 10-09-19
-
London Fields
- By: Martin Amis
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The murderee is Nicola Six, a "black hole" of sex and self-loathing who is intent on orchestrating her own extinction. The murderer may be Keith Talent, a violent lowlife whose only passions are pornography and darts; or the rich, honorable, and dimly romantic Guy Clinch. As Nicola leads her suitors towards the precipice, London--and, indeed, the whole world--seems to shamble after them in a corrosively funny novel of complexity and morality.
-
-
Big chewy novel, excellent narration
- By Sand on 08-21-14
By: Martin Amis
What listeners say about The Crane Wife
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William C. Cohen-Kiraly
- 11-07-23
One of my all-time favorite listens
I’m not sure I have the words to say how much I loved this audiobook.
It is one of the few books I have consumed that so completely captivated me, both emotionally and intellectually. It is a beautiful story of love, loss and growth—in turns funny and bitter-sweet.
Though inspired by a Japanese folk tale and entwined with magical realism, the story is not a fantasy. It is the story of a man, his daughter, and many other finely-crafted characters touched by the grace of a beautiful, gentle, but enigmatic woman.
What makes the book so powerful is that Ness writes these characters so we can identify with them and feel their strengths, desires, foibles and insecurities.
Parts of this book left me laughing out loud, other parts were tense or sad. But start to finish, it was engrossing and demanded to be finished.
And just to add the chef’s kiss, the narration by Jamie Glover was superb. His voice is as beautiful as Ness’ prose. It is musical, calming and perfect in tone throughout the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Margalina555
- 06-05-14
Among My Most Favorite Books Ever
Would you listen to The Crane Wife again? Why?
Absolutely, it was such a pleasure. I am going to save it for a time when I could use something to lift my spirits and open my mind to possibility
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Crane Wife?
The realization that the Crane was having such an amazing positive effect on the family, that she was a Goddess in human form.
Which scene was your favorite?
The scene in the very beginning when he is holding the Crane and she wraps her neck around his upper body. I see that in my mind's eye whenever I think of the book. It totally drew me into the book. The writer was so capable of placing you in the situations in the book by his brilliant descriptions. I can see many of the scenes in full color in my head.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Both!! I'm having trouble writing this review because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone reading these reviews, and at the same time I want to encourage people to experience the book. I wish there was another star, or maybe I should go back and readjust all of my ratings to reflect the true feelings I have about this and a couple of other books I have read recently like "The Invention of Wings", "The Book of Tea" and "MiddleMarch".
Any additional comments?
I wish there was a way for us to identify in advance the books like this so I could buy them all. The pleasure of this book was astounding. I have told all of my friends about it. When it is said that "other books are similar" it isn't really true. I guess I should fine someone with similar taste and follow their suggestions.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bob Evans
- 12-10-16
Magical
Magical and unexpected.
You are drawn into the story as viewers are transfixed by the art created in the text
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 06-04-14
an experience, but flawed
The Crane Wife is a story about George and his daughter Amanda. One night, George discovers a wounded crane in his yard that he nurses back to health. Later, he meets a mysterious woman named Kumiko, who wants his help with some artwork she is making. Eventually they fall in love and agree to be married. But Kumiko harbors a number of secrets and is more than she seems.
There are a few story lines interweaved: George, Amanda, George and Kumiko, and the Crane and Volcano.
Having read most of Patrick Ness' novels and enjoying them, I wanted to give this one a try. I listened to the audible version. The narrator did a fine job, although this is probably one of the most down-keyed depressing narrators I've ever heard, but it fit with the tone of the novel.
The writing itself was fairly well executed in as far as it was very poetic and fluid. But...it often went on way too long and thus the pacing was just glacial. There isn't a whole lot of action in this novel. It is mostly about the characters feelings and conversations. And then there is this whole mystical story line about the crane and the volcano, a couple apparently eternal who are outside time, but whose story doesn't always make much sense, and who seem to be unable to carry on a natural conversation with each other. Anytime one answered the other, the answer was always self-contradictory (yes and no). This mythology would have been interesting to me, but it answered nothing and didn't always make any sense at all. And not only was the plot just too slow in places, but there were parts put in that were baffling. The book opens with an extended description of George peeing, there are several places where Amanda is peeing and hears noises outside (nothing becomes of that), a whole subplot about Amanda being pregnant that goes nowhere, and an extended chapter exploring a ton of different ways a house fire could have started (just pick one already). Also it had a very nice logical ending place, and then continued on for chapter after chapter.
Character-wise, all of the characters are mostly well developed, and all very well detestable. George is described as a nice, giving wonderful man. But as the story continues we learn more about this man, and see that in reality he is self-centered, quick to anger, unfaithful, and generally a low life. And his daughter Amanda is selfish, negative, and really has nothing to say positive about anything. We feel a bit of sympathy at the way she is treated on the street by people but by the end of the novel, she isn't much better, but instead has found people under her to pick on, and peers to share her negativity. She is the kind of person who might leave her son alone with a mentally-unstable woman while she ran into a burning house without any thought that she might die and leave her son motherless. I wish I could say that the characters all experience growth and redemption, but really I could only say that about Rachel, the boss and semi-friend of Amanda. Even Kumiko is hard to completely like since she spends most of the story lying to everyone about who she really is, and making promises to George she can't keep.
It is a very interesting take on the traditional crane story, and it is not a bad book at all. But I felt it just went on way too long with too much filler, the characters were just too unlikable with little redemption, the mythology was shallow and unsatisfying, and there were many things tacked into the book that just didn't fit. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was half the length it was. But in the end, it was an experience and certainly has a unique mood and prose that are worth giving a try.
NOTE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Celeste Bartunek
- 01-13-15
Fantastic Read!
I loved this book for it's unique visualizations and well written story. The artwork descriptions made the story come to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mari
- 07-15-14
Strange story, so hypnotizing
If you could sum up The Crane Wife in three words, what would they be?
This was a wonderful book of hope, love and mythical morals. I think the characters could have been a little more well formed, but then again, it would have ruined the ending. It was a very easy, enjoyable and enthralling listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David O
- 06-29-19
wonderful story, wonderful reading
THis is not my favorite Patrick Ness story, but still very good, with a considerable magical realism flavor .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!