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Reading lists

Debut novels of 2025: discover the year’s breakthrough new voices

Lisa Ridzén

Alice Menzies

THE PHENOMENAL SUNDAY TIMES WORD-OF-MOUTH BESTSELLER. A profoundly moving and life-affirming novel about the multitude of stories contained within a life, and the big things for which we have no words. 
 
‘So heartbreaking and funny and beautiful and wise… an extraordinary book’ RICHARD OSMAN 
 
'You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love’ FREDRIK BACKMAN 
 
‘The most moving book I’ve ever read.’ JACQUELINE WILSON 
 
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize & Waterstones Book of the Month______ 
 
Bo is determined to live his own life in his own way. But his son has other ideas... 
 
Bo lives a quiet existence in his small rural village in the north of Sweden. He is elderly and his days are punctuated by visits from his care team and his son. Fortunately, he still has his rich memories, phone calls with his best friend, and his beloved dog Sixten for company. 
 
Only now his son is insisting the dog must be taken away. The very same son that Bo is wanting to mend his relationship with before his time is up. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotions and makes Bo determined to resist and find his voice... 
 
'A novel anyone will take to heart' Patrick Gale, Guardian 
 
'A magical reading experience; among the most moving things I’ve ever read' No.1 internationally bestselling author Camilla Läckberg 
____ 
 
Readers love When the Cranes Fly South: 
 
'What makes this novel truly remarkable is the way it explores universal themes...readers will find themselves deeply connected to [Bo's] journey of emotional reckoning' 
 
‘It is impossible not to be moved by this book’ 
 
'This is not just a story about a man and his dog; it's a story of family, of relationships tested by time and distance, and the effort to find peace within the limits of one's existence' 
 
'A story that will connect to all of us in some way' 
 
'Not only touches the heart but also invites deep reflection on what it means to truly live and love'

When the Cranes Fly South

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Debut novels of 2025: discover the year’s breakthrough new voices

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