The Crane Husband

Today's post is on The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill. It is 120 pages long and is published by TOR. The cover is a woman with feathers on her face. The intended reader is someone who likes fantasy-horror mashups. There is foul language, discussion of sex and rape, violence in this novel. The story is told from first person close of the unnamed main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- “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.

Yet when her mom brings home a six-foot tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to prevent her mom letting the intruder into her heart, and her children’s lives. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, her mom abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands.

Review- An incredible story about growing up, domestic violence, and art. The narrator, her brother and her artist mother, live on a farm. Her father had died years before. Then one day her mother brings a huge man sized crane home. They have a deeply disturbing relationship. The narrator knows that the crane is going to kill her mother but the mother refuses to listen. So the narrator decides to do whatever it takes. This story is moving, intense, and the horror is very subtle, which in my opinion makes it even more disturbing. The crane man is frightening and unsettling. Sometimes he is a six foot crane then he is man and in both forms, he is dangerous and terrifying. I would recommend this novel. 

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.