Title: Where The Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
ISBN: 978 1 4721 5466 8
Publisher: Little Brown Book Company
Pages: 368
Source: Private Copy (Well Two Copies)
For years, rumours of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming-of-age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behaviour of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Official Summary
Alicia and I read this book as our first-ever Buddy Read, below we both share our thoughts on this fantastic read – Where the Crawdads Sing earned a five-star rating on Good Reads from both of us!
04 July 2022
Zelda’s Review
Where do I start? This is not a book I would have selected myself as it does not fall within my usual genre. Alicia suggested we read this book as a buddy read because she had heard so much about this title. Not having a clue what to expect, I agreed simply to humour her. Am I glad I did!
This book had me laughing and crying from start to finish. It is a deep, moving story that explores human nature to avoid anything different, a child abandoned and the most amazing description of the natural world with some poetry thrown in along the way. I could not read this book fast enough. The movie of this one is releasing in July and I sure hope the South African audience is not left waiting. I have already committed to a movie night with Alicia as soon as it’s showing locally.
It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Delia Owens has an amazing writing style. She takes hold of your heart and imagination and keeps you locked in her world right up to the very last page. This is a beautifully written story that is full of emotion. This book refuses to let you go. The minute you open the first page, there is no walking away. In the beginning, the local dialect had me rereading some of the dialogue to understand what was being said, however, I found myself quickly catching onto the lingo and loving it.
For years the locals have talked about the “Marsh Girl” rumour and gossip following her wherever she went. Only two people took the time to get to know her. When the local “hero” quarterback is found dead, the police are quick to point a finger at Kya – the Marsh Girl. After all, everyone has seen her spending time with Chase. The sheriff openly admits that the “Swamp Trash” lives by their own rules. So of course Kya must be responsible for Chase’s death. But finding Kya is no easy feat. She has spent a lifetime avoiding the locals and she knows how to slip out of sight at a moment’s notice.
This book is one of the most moving books I have read in a long time. The author created an amazing tale filled with the most beautiful scenery. I had no problem “seeing” the gulls, ocean and glorious skies. The characters crawled under my skin and stole my heart. I found myself laughing and crying while reading this one.
Kya or Miss Catherine Danielle Clark is introduced as a five-year-old little girl and the story follows her life. This abandoned child crawls into your heart as she struggles to survive. Judged wrongly by the locals and openly called dirty Kya has no hope. However, the author turned this doomed child into an intelligent young woman who despite all the odds facing her, succeeded and made something of herself. Young Kya is without doubt the most remarkable character I have ever encountered in a book. I loved everything about her!
Kya’s parents left my blood boiling – nothing excuses a parent behaving this way. I know life can be hard and some people are more fragile than others, but as a parent, your children are your responsibility, no matter what. A parent does not have the luxury of walking away – ever! Jodie was an adorable little boy, and I loved that he’s story was explained.
Tate was the perfect knight in shining armour. Sure, at times some of his actions were a little questionable, especial when interacting with a young Kya – but he showed strength and proved to be a remarkable young man. Loved this guy!
Chase Andrews got what was coming to him. I disliked him from the beginning. What a horrible human being!
Yep, this five-star read has secured a place on my loved list for 2022 – This is a brilliant book and I am sad that it has taken me so long to get to read it. One thing this book showed me is that I really need to escape my comfort zone a little more often.
If you are looking for a beautifully scenic read with a heartfelt, emotional story and a crime thrown in, then this is the book for you. I can assure you that you will laugh and cry while reading this book. I cannot wait to see the movie and hope that it will be true to the book. This story is perfect just as it is!
If you haven’t yet, please add this book to your TBR – this is a must-read!
Alicia’s Review:
Like many other people, I heard about this book because of the upcoming movie. So naturally, I had to hop onto the trend and decided this would be the perfect book for my mother and me to do our first buddy read.
This book was written by a Zoologist, and it really shows. I loved the description of all the different animals and plants. I even found myself learning a thing or two. I loved the scenery and it made me excited to see how the movie is going to incorporate that into the visuals.
I found the writing in this was done beautifully. I loved how descriptive everything was. I will say that because I am not used to the accent these people have, I had to reread a couple of things to make any sense of a couple of lines.
I found Kya to be such an interesting character. I found her story heart-breaking. You cannot help but sympathize with her as you watch how people keep mistreating her. Although at times I felt like ripping my hair out at some of her discussions, I found it made her a more believable character. A character that is just human and makes mistakes. I loved how we watched her grow up and change throughout the book.
Tate and Kya’s relationship felt so wrong. Now I see how many people can see him as this amazing guy when he is compared to Chase who is absolutely terrible. Although Tate did do so much good for Kya, I still feel like he was taking advantage of her in some ways. She was very reliant on him and he knew that. I mean that part against the tree when she was FIFTEEN and he was NINETEEN was honestly so gross. I didn’t love how romanticized the grooming was.
Besides that, I enjoyed the book. I loved how you had to wait until the very last page for the last plot twist. It had me on the edge of my seat and had me suspicious of every character and I love when a book does that.
I would definitely recommend this slice-of-life, murder mystery to everyone. This book is most certainly making it to my top books of the year.
Watch the Movie Trailer
Also by Delia Owens
Cry of the Kalahari
Carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, two young Americans, Delia and Mark Owens caught a plane to Africa, bought a third-hand Land Rover, and drive deep into the Kalahari Desert. There they lived for seven years, in an unexplored area with no roads, no people, no source of water for thousands of square miles. In this vast wilderness, they met animals that had never seen humans before and would wake in the morning to find lions sleeping near them. Leopards, giraffes, and brown hyenas were regular visitors to their camp. But the Kalahari is not Eden, and Mark and Delia were continually threatened by wildfires, drought, violent storms and sometimes by the animals they studied and loved.
About The Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Delia Owens lived in some of the most remote areas of Africa for twenty-three years while she conducted scientific research on lions, elephants and others. Based on these expeditions and adventures, she co-authored three internationally bestselling nonfiction books about her life as a wildlife scientist.
She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Animal Behavior from the University of California in Davis. She has won the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing and has been published in Nature, Journal of Mammalogy, The African Journal of Ecology, and International Wildlife, among many others. She currently lives in Idaho.
Where the Crawdads Sing is her first novel.
I need to thank Alicia for suggesting this read, as well as for not spoiling the ending when she finished the book 75 pages ahead of me! It has been confirmed – I read slowly!
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading our reviews. Your continued support is appreciated. If you have read this book, remember to leave a comment below sharing your thoughts. We have another Buddy Read planned for July, keep an eye out for our review of Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior – coming soon. Until next time…Happy Reading!
Great reviews!
Thank you