Where the Crawdads Sing

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Kya Clark, a young girl living on her own in a marsh near Barkley Cove, a small town in North Carolina. Kya was abandoned by her three siblings, her mother and then finally, her abusive father. But she’s extraordinarily self-sufficient, artistic and bright. Kya befriends Jumpin and his wife, who help her with supplies and food. But she is really lonely. When she has the opportunity to befriend (and maybe fall in love with) two different boys, she does so. She is perhaps too impetuous and open with these boys, but she can’t help herself as her loneliness is just too much to bear. One of these boys is murdered and the story unfolds alternately from the present to the past to try to determine the culprit. This is a story about families, friendship, loneliness, perseverance and strength. But really, it’s about learning that while our experiences as children will leave a life-long mark on who we are, they don’t have to define who we become.

This book took me three months to finish. No, not because I’m a slow reader, although I really am, but because it was so beautifully written that I didn’t want it to end. I’d read a few pages at a time and savor what I read. It’s not the writing that was particularly beautiful, as in I can’t quote tremendously poetic or inspiring writing from this book. But, the beauty comes from the detailed world that Owens created; her characters, the world they live in and their stories.

The characters are all so layered and complicated and really human that you just can’t help but really love and identify with them. Owens paints such a beautiful picture of the marsh and of Kya’s home. She makes the natural world come to life. The descriptions of Kya’s connection to the land and animals around her makes you feel like you are standing in the middle of this wildly beautiful marsh and can hear the birds chirping, feel the moss under your feet and smell the water. I have a particular affinity, though, for her home. I’m generally a lover of houses (I previously designed homes), and the more authentic to the family occupying the home, the better I like them. This house, from the description of the meager furnishings and rooms, was a mere living space that only came to life with the collections Kya put together, the food she cooked in the kitchen, the warmth from the stove and the treasures her mother left behind.

I highly recommend this book for book groups, as even if you don’t like the story, there are so many good themes to discuss.