Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (2018)
The title of Where the Crawdads Sing refers to deep in the marsh of North Carolina, where there is only nature, untouched by human activity. The novel mostly focuses on the life of Kya Clark, from a young child of 6 to adulthood.
Kya was the youngest child of a poor family that lived deep in the Marsh. One hot August day, her mother just up and leaves. Shod in her faux alligator heels, Ma walks away from the house, never to be seen again. The older children had previously left, leaving only Kya and her brother Jodie to fend with their drunken father. Soon Jodie departs, leaving Kya alone with her father.
She learned to avoid his violent temper, but one day, he, too, took off, leaving the young girl alone in the Marsh. Before her mother left, Kya would sometimes walk into to the nearby town for groceries. Although she was unable to read or write, she managed to get by. On one of her first solo trips into town, she was nearly hit by Chase Andrews, who was riding his bicycle with his friends. It was her first encounter with children her own age.
Soon thereafter, she encounters Tate, a young town boy, who fishes and spends time in the Marsh. He realized that Kya cannot read, so teaches her. He brings her books, which she scours. They see each other nearly every day until he leaves for college. Although he promises to return, Kya once again feels abandoned.
Chase chose not to pursue college, but instead remained in town to work in his father’s automotive store. He is attracted to Kya and the two begin a tenuous relationship. Kya begins to think of marriage and a family, even though she knows that the town folks think of her as trash. She hears rumors that Chase is seeing other girls, but choses to believe this hints of marriage.
Early on in the novel, the reader learns that Chase is dead. The circumstances of his death are somewhat mysterious. Was it an accident, or was he murdered? The novel slowly peels back the layers of life in the Marsh, how Kya learned to survive in the world, and the activities of Chase.
The book has come highly recommended. It is a good book and will most certainly be made into a movie.
I enjoyed it, but it is probably not a story that I will remember for long.
Read: August 25, 2019
4 Stars
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