I have never been to the Southern parts of the United States, let alone North Carolina. I have never walked, biked, boated around the estuaries, inlets, coves or marshes that slice through the coastal mainland of the Eastern Seaboard.
Now I wish to.
For awhile I have been wanting to read Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing.” It wasn’t a recommendation that spurred me onto the book, only my own explorations at multiple bookstores, coming across the novel on featured tables and reading the synopsis. Finally, I got around to it on May 16, 2022 and it took me just that day to complete the fictional story of a girl named Kya, abandoned by her family entirely by the age of 10 in a shack with no power, no running water, on the marsh in North Carolina to fend for herself.
I couldn’t put this novel down. Owens is a first-time novelist who studied Zoology at Georgia and later in Africa. She hails from the South and her understanding of the ecosystem, the culture and the lifestyle of the Carolina region makes this book all the more special. Owens puts you on that marsh with Kya Clark even if you’ve never set foot in that part of the country in your life. Like me.
The character of Kya is one that will go down with all the most beloved characters of all time — especially on the female side. She ranks up there with Elizabeth Bennett, Scout Finch and Jane Eyre. She’s fierce and resilient, but also extremely vulnerable and distrusting. She’s as skittish as a spider, yet she endures in the marsh by becoming one with the nature that surrounds her.
It’s a story about courage, independence, loneliness, human nature and connection. “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a love story to the Carolina marshes. It speaks of a romance between a teenage girl and all the sea life and birds that make up her environment.
The themes of this novel are powerful, but Kya is a triumph. No matter the circumstances that are thrown at you, “Where the Crawdads Sing” should tell you the power is within you to overcome them. Be resilient like Kya. Discover what you want out of life and go after it. Be wild.
Rating — 10/10
“Where the Crawdads Sing” is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s up there Kristin Hannah’s “The Nightengale,” J.K. Rowling’s “The Deathly Hallows,” and of course Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The novel is extremely well written. Owens takes you into Carolina and Kya’s marsh effortlessly. You feel Kya’s pain when she’s abandoned by her mother, brother and later her father. When a close friend doesn’t return in all his time away at university. Do yourself a favor and read this novel. You won’t regret it.
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