Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owens

My rating:

A vibrant, well-crafted account of life, coming of age and indomitable resilience and resistance in the marshes of North Carolina. 

1952
Kya is five years old when ‘Ma’ leaves her violent, alcoholic husband. Kya is left with her drunken father and her slightly older brother, Jodie, in their shack by the marshes. In a pattern of consecutive abandonments, the Marsh Girl, olive-skinned and illiterate, ends up fending for herself alone in the wilderness by the age of ten.

There’s nothing quite like ‘squinting with your ears’ to uncover the marshes’ life and secrets, and Kya has mastered the art of avoiding the town people, who leave the marsh dwellers to themselves. Intelligent, skittish, and untamed, she is unbeatable at hiding in her natural surroundings.

In times when it is possible to avoid social services, she receives a helping hand from Jumpin’ and his wife Mabel, and through the years turns into a pretty teenager, then a beautiful young woman shrouded in mystery. Despite her unusual behaviour, her feminine figure attracts boys, some for the wrong reasons.

Is she not, after all, ‘marsh trash’?

1969
Chase Andrews, a married man, and womaniser, is found dead in the swamp below the fire tower. Sheriff Johnson and his deputy, Joe, have reason to suspect foul play. As the investigation moves forward, evidence quickly points to the Marsh Girl, and she becomes the most likely culprit.

Did Kya murder Chase, and what was her motive?

This is my first Delia Owens, and her debut novel is stunning and profound. The descriptions of the marshes, swamps, and their wildlife are breathtaking. The author’s experience as a zoologist transpires through the vivid, colourful depiction of the wildlife surrounding Kya’s shack, and beyond.

Kya is curious and methodical in her research of the marshes’ creatures. The most extraordinary creature however, she does not study or classify: Kya herself, living in a world she doesn’t desire anymore than it seems to desire her; consoled and nurtured by the marshes, which she makes her home, her comfort, her mother.

This book is a fiery dance of the heart and soul with Nature, like crystalline music to the ears, a feather to the skin, deft poetry to the heart that longs for someone decent enough to fill the void left by loneliness. It is a gift of loyalty, love, and a prayer for hope.

Simply put, “Where the Crawdads sing” is an exquisite, intimate, and enchanting read.

View all my reviews