Crane Spreads Wings: A Bigamist's Story

By Susan Trott

Book Overview

Effie Crackalbee (a.k.a. Jane Croy), the loving, daring, and generous protagonist of Crane Spreads Wings , is a self-proclaimed T'ai Chi warrior who practices the ancient movements that center her spirit even as she sets out to re-create her life. When we meet her, she is Jane Croy, and she has just decided to run away from Alan, her husband of one month, because, as she says, he has misrepresented himself. He's full of hot air--always spouting off--and Jane hates spouters. Nevertheless, within hours, she too, is misrepresenting herself. When she runs into Gled Saltonstall, the bearish, slightly pudgy single father of an adorable little boy, she becomes Effie Crackalbee--indeed her given name--and immediately signs on as the boy's nanny for the summer, neglecting to mention that she isn't as single and unencumbered as she appears. When it turns out that Alan and Gled live in the same summer community on the Massachusetts coast, Jane's little lie of omission begins to take on enormous dimensions. One fib inexorably leads to another, until there is virtually no one in this moving and vastly entertaining novel who doesn't at some point bend the truth, whether out of kindness, self-preservation, fear, or love--because at its heart this is a book about love; and about families, from the most conventional to the most bizarre. By the end of her sometimes dizzying journey of discovery, Effie will have found her balance, creating a new life not only for herself but also for all those she loves--and who love her.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385506910
• ISBN13: 9780385506915
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece at the Hands of A Great Writer

This insightful book represents an oddly twisted world of adultery, love, and hate where Tai Chi mingles with the scents of an easy read. A wonderful protagonist, so nice to finally have a female heroine, who despite her problems manages to maintain a fascinating mind frame. Susan Trott, I applaud you greatly!

T'ai Chi Warrior Finds Love

I simply adored this fabulous, funny, witty story of Effie Crackalbee (a.k.a. Jane Croy), the most unlikely bigamist T'ai Chi warrior there ever was! The book starts out with Jane running away from her husband of one month, Alan. Of course, before she departs the marital abode, she pauses to do her T'ai Chi pose. Here's an excerpt from page 2:"Slowly, slowly, I begin T'ai Chi. I relaxed my body, stilled my mind, let the energy come from the earth through the soles of my feet into my self. I tried to move like the ocean water, like the fog---muffled movements. I smiled when I got to the part of the form called Crane Spreads Wings, looking to the cormorant for approval, although with my right hand above my head and the left held by my side, it was more of a wings-in-flight pose than the hanging-wings-out-to-dry stance of the cormorant."Susan Trott very artfully and skillfully weaves the T'ai Chi poses into each chapter, in fact, entitling each chapter with the name of a pose. This is an ingenious and beautifully written story of one woman's search for balance and meaning in her life. I can't wait to read more of Ms. Trott's superb fiction.

Funny, funny, funny.

This is my first exposure to Susan Trott's writing and this book is a total hoot! Wonderful one liners and fun characters. Crane Spreads Wings is an easy book to read. The characters of Jane Croy/Effie Cracklbee, Alan her wealthy husband, Cleb her earnest and bumbling husband, Danny the precious little boy, a nasty sister in law, a wonderful mother-in-law all leave you laughing at the improbable wanderings of the human spirit. Susan had a fun time writing this novel. What a wicked sense of humor she has!

Crane Spreads Wings is one hilarious misadventure!

From the very beginning of the book, you have to wonder if the main character, Jane Croy, a.k.a. Effie Crackalbee, is "all there." For starters, she leaves her newlywed husband because he's not exactly all he's claimed to be. Well, who is, right? But once she leaves him, she launches into a (mis)adventure that gets more preposterous with every turn. As I continued reading, I fell in love with all the zany characters and with Susan Trott. The story reads like a daytime drama & sitcom all-in-one. I highly recommend anyone who needs a good belly laugh to sit down for a few hours with Crane Spreads Wings.