#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENON—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!
More than 18 million copies sold worldwide
A Reese’s Book Club Pick
A Business Insider Defining Book of the Decade
“I can't even express how much I love this book! I didn't want this story to end!”—Reese Witherspoon
“Painfully beautiful.”—The New York Times Book Review
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
I thought this was a solid read that was maybe a bit over-hyped. Also, if you have difficulty reading about abused children, this may not be for you.
The story starts out in 1952 with 6-year-old Kya watching her mother walk away, never to return. Before long, the rest of her siblings follow, escaping the wrath of their ne'er-do-well drunkard father. Kya is abandoned by both her family and society, left to find her own way in a world where nature is much nicer to her than the humans are.
The rest of the book alternates between Kya's life and the murder of the town's golden boy, Chase Andrews, when Kya is in her 20s. I thought the story was woven together well, and I enjoyed the author's description of the marsh and how important it was in Kya's life. But there were some aspects of the book I really didn't enjoy.
I largely felt the dialect was unnecessary and annoying to read. I think there are ways to depict that aspect of a character without using that crutch. I also thought the bit with the poet at the end was an unneeded twist. And maybe I didn't actually need to know what happened to Kya's mother?
But overall, I enjoyed the story and read it quite quickly over my Christmas break. It is easy to become invested in Kya's survival.
