The Crane Wife

'Outstanding... An elegant masterpiece... Wry but also warm and generous' Roxane Gay 'Frank, funny, enthralling... Think of it as rehab for road-weary romantics, inviting us to redefine what constitutes a love story' Observer 'Warning: you will WhatsApp multiple quotes to your friends from your sun-lounger' Independent Ten days after calling off her wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, she realised she had almost signed up to live somebody else's life. In this intimate, frank and funny memoir in essays, CJ Hauser lets go of 'how life was supposed to be' and goes looking for more honest ways of living. She kisses internet strangers, officiates a wedding, visits a fertility clinic. She reads Rebecca in the house her new boyfriend shared with his ex-wife and rewinds Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story to learn how not to lose yourself in a relationship. She writes about friends and lovers, ghosts and robots, grief and heartbreak, blood family and chosen family, and asks what more expansive definitions of love might offer us all. The Crane Wife is a book for anyone whose life doesn't look the way they thought it would; for anyone trying, if sometimes failing, to find joy in the unexpected. 'CJ Hauser understands that there are so many different ways to love and live, and her words make all of them exciting possibilities.' Natasha Lunn, bestselling author of CONVERSATIONS ON LOVE 'Universal and exciting... The Crane Wife will satisfy and inspire anyone who has ever asked, 'How did I get here, and what happens now?' New York Times 'Funny, exciting, vulnerable - truly visionary' Alexander Chee 'Intimate, witty and beautifully crafted' Elle 'Intimate, wry, compassionate... a book you want to press into friends' hands' Irish Mail on Sunday