WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, by Delia Owens
Penguin Audio - 2018
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
My Rating (out of 5)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking works I have ever "read".
In 1969 a popular young man is found dead at the foot of a fire tower. Suspicion is immediately focused on Kya - the mysterious "Marsh Girl".
This stunning, poignant tale follows young Kya from the 1950's to the 1970's. As a young child, Kya's home life is piteous. Dirt poor and living in the marshlands of North Carolina, her family is subjected to discrimination by the local townspeople. Her father is abusive, and his violence drives her mother and siblings away, one by one, until she is but a young child living in a shack with the father who leaves her for days at a time, until one day he doesn't come back either.
Harbouring deep abandonment issues (who wouldn't), and intensely suspicious of the people who have scorned her all her life, Kya lives in the marshland shack all by herself, earning her the moniker "marsh girl".
Oh how my heart ached for the thought of a mere child living by herself. I wanted to wrap Kya in my arms, to let her feel warm and safe. I wanted to scream at the injustice of her life.
At odds with her abandonment issues, is the basic need for companionship. She does form relationships twice with local boys, but these do not turn out well for her and only scar her heart further.
Owens has created one of the most stunningly beautiful and heartbreaking works in recent time. The resilience of young Kya, battling the odds not only to survive, but ultimately thrive, still able to see the beauty in the world around her.
Owens work as a nature writer shows in this novel. The setting of this novel is so vibrant that it seems to become another one of the characters. You could almost hear the gulls, the frogs ,the insects, smell the salt air, see the grasses and reeds and shells, and feel the sand underfoot. There is a mood to this book. It is haunting, sad, beautiful, and all-encompassing.
Narration by Cassandra Campbell was perfect. Her southern accent and impressive range of emotion and character was an ideal match for this incredible story. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job.
This is one of those books that is not easily forgotten. Reading it makes it a part of you. It reaches into your humanity and takes up residence snugly against your heart.
Happy Reading,
Christine
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.
Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, 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.
https://www.deliaowens.com/about-the-author/
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