Where The Crawdads Sing

by Delia Owens

The book had been sent to me by an English friend and I thought it would be a good read to take our minds away from the enduring pandemic.

The author is a 70+ years old zoologist and wild life scientist, a co-author of 3 bestselling non-fiction books about her 25 years of life in Africa, and had many articles published in prestigious scientific journals. This is her first novel and it topped The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2019 for 25 non-consecutive weeks.

 She took 7 years to write it, using her own experience of living in isolation from humans, though hers, contrary to her novel´s character of Kya, was, and is, voluntary.

Watching the interviews with her, gives, I think, a new perspective of the story.

The place: Barkley Cove in North Californim

The mystery plot: The “Marsh Girl”  Kya Clark is suspected of the murder of the handsome and popular youth Chase Andrews.

The novel has a bit of everything –  mystery, romance, survival, loneliness, love and evocation of the marshlands´ fauna and flora, but the theme of survival and loneliness are the main ones, based on the author own experience, though, as mentioned before, her life in isolation was of her own choice and not, as in Kya´s case, because of  family circumstances and prejudice.

I take the liberty of including Loeky´s comment, as she could not participate in our zoom meeting:

“I read "Where the Crawdads sing" and loved the book. Thanks Blanka for suggesting it. 

It is obvious that Delia Owens knows nature as no other, having always lived close to nature, becoming later a wildlife zoologist and working most of her life with animals. Delia's mother used to tell her "go as far as you can where the crawdads sing". Where I think animals still behave like animals. 

Delia's description of Kya's life as an outcast in a small community and her life in and from the nature is beautiful. 

Kya's life teaches us how to deal with being deserted by all, living in isolation and with loneliness. And that we all can achieve more than we think we can. 

I liked how the author kept up an amazing tension until the end. 

The poetry is also important when Kya became knowledgeable about language and the power of reading. It changed her life! 

And do you know "whodunnit"? Even knowing that one cannot take the law in one's own hand, I do understand if it is Kya "whodunnit". It was for her own survival; Chase would never have left her alone.” 

Blanka