Book Review on “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
“Painfully beautiful… At once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative, and a celebration of nature.”
— The New York Times Book Review (on book cover)
Kya, the Marsh Girl vs. the prejudice of a town
The book with 368 pages, published on August 14th, 2018, has topped The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers list of 2019 and 2020 for 48 weeks.
I listened to it with my earbuds on while on my walks to the store. And when that didn’t feel like enough, I listened to the same episodes once again while I lay in bed at night.
And let me tell you, taking my phone with me to bed is not something I do.
The nature sections in this book are so soothingly beautiful and the language so peacefully poetic that I found myself deviating from the imposed rule I follow — that of taking and charging my phone in my bedroom.
So that right there should tell you how much I loved “Where the Crawdads Sing.”
As it was, it took me a long time to get to the end which I purposely delayed. But then, I got to the end. And this time, getting to the end of the book when Kya was sixty-four, did not make me sad. It made me happy. The tears I shed were happy ones.
… And then came the Cheshire-cat grin. You’ll understand after you read.
Where the Crawdads Sing is the story of a little girl, Catherine Danielle Clark, nicknamed Kya, who is the youngest in the Clark household. Her Pa is a drunkard and gambler who physically abuses her Ma. The story begins with Ma walking out of their house, then one by one, the older children doing the same, until the only one left behind — for lack of having somewhere to go, and no money — is six-year-old, still not able to read, Kya.
The year was 1952.
In the beginning, her Pa is there to give her money for the purchase of the bare minimum, and even tries to be kind to his little daughter — giving her his knapsack and teaching her to fish — but by and by, he too abandons the child. That, for me, was an incredibly horrid idea to take in. It made me angry to even read that. But I did.
Except for her brother who returns one day when she’s already all grown up and gives Kya pictures and news about how their mother died, we never hear what happens with the rest of the family.
In the story, Kya survives because she had immense love and respect for her surroundings. And, oh what surroundings! It was the description of the natural setting that helped me to overlook the fact of the abandonment and to carry on with the story. And where does the story take place, you ask? The marshes of North Carolina!
Writers are advised to write what they know.
Delia Owens did that beautifully.
The descriptions and the love that resonated loud and clear from my earbuds led me to look up the author, Delia Owens. A zoologist. You should look her up too. Click on the link. Oh, I already loved the author, but after googling her, my admiration doubled.
Kya is nicknamed the marsh girl by the people in the village. But the nickname is derogatory; the residents of the town look down on the girl with deep prejudice. This, made my heart sad as well, equally as sad as the abandonment.
As Kya matures, she learns to read and write and as naturally as everything around her teaches her about life, informally, she learns about matters of the heart and the body. It is just lovely how this happens.
To me, a story that chooses to end here would have been enough. I secretly wished the author would pursue this to the end and I was preparing my heart for a beautiful young romance.
But of course, the author had to throw stones at this fragile yet strong young woman. And oh, did she? How the author did it was incredible.
Suffice it to say that Kya experienced love and heartache; she became an author herself thanks to the lovely friendship that lived on with the person who caused her heartache just when she was coming into her womanhood.
And, here’s an alert I didn’t see coming until it was too late: Kya’s world was shattered by a murder.
As you could guess, with the prejudice already coming from the people of the town, all fingers pointed to Kya as the main suspect. I don’t want to say more on that except that the timeline was well executed and merged well into the story.
I will say this: I adored how the concept of time gradually changed from long languid days of childhood and youth — which is how those years seem to all of us — to fast, but slower-in-a-sense as the story neared the ending. It felt appropriate to do that as now that I’m older I too feel that the days just zoom right by me.
This book is amazing. I gave you no spoilers because I’m sure that’s how I like my book reviews. If there’s one book that I won’t be able to forget for — forever— this is one of them. I encourage you to get your hands on it and read it or listen to it as I did.
It boasts a beautiful cover that I simply adored.
Not A-One boring moment in this book.
I give it a 10/10 rating.
THANKS FOR READING.
I Wish You Miracles.
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I enjoyed reading your thoughts and review of Where the Crawdads Sing – they echo my own. I read it this past fall for a book club and enjoyed it so much that it makes me want to go explore the marshes of the Carolina coast!
Hey, Stacey. I appreciate you coming by to read. This is what I crave. Interaction. So you also read this gem of a book. Splendid. I’ve been trying to catch up on older reads, classics, that I missed reading. But this one– recent one — came to me at the right time and wow, was I enamored. I too feel like going to the Carolina coast to investigate the marshes. Wow! Wish I had it in me to write like this too. haha.
Happy Spring, Stacey. I Wish you Miracles.