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A review by reneedecoskey
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
5.0
This book reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird in some way I can't quite define. It's almost like watching Scout grow up to become Boo Radley. It's beautifully written and makes you feel like you're right there on the marsh with Kya as she watches everyone leave her alone to fend for herself. It's heartbreaking.
Kya raises herself and though there are others with whom she communicates and spends time over the years (Tate, Chase, Jumpin', Jodie), I'd argue that the second main character is really the marsh itself. It's a part of Kya and she is a part of it.
The story flashes back and forth in time between the 50s -- where we see Kya's family all leave her, one by one -- through the 60s as she raises herself alone on the marsh, befriending (and falling in love with) her brother's friend Tate, watching as he leaves too, and falling in love with star quarterback Chase Andrews. All the while, she remains relatively secluded in her shack out in the marsh, rarely spotted in town, and known as a mythical figure to most of the townspeople: The Marsh Girl. What they know of her is based on seeing her in her boat, and the rest they've fabricated as town gossip.
SPOILERS BELOW
But years later, when Chase Andrews is found dead in the marsh below the fire tower, all eyes are on Kya -- even though she wasn't in town at the time. Everyone believes she tricked him to the top and pushed him down. Kya, wild and free her whole life, is forced to remain in a small prison cell with just some books to occupy her.
When she is acquitted, she goes home, marries Tate, and lives out the rest of her life on the marsh. After she dies, Tate discovers some information about Kya's hidden life and clues about Chases's death, written into poems which had been secreted away in the floor boards.
END SPOILERS
This is such a beautifully written book that I could hardly believe it was a debut. It's a story of resilience, but also of what loneliness can do to a person, and how the lonely learn to trust. And after all of that, how the heart wins.
Where the Crawdads Sing refers to the area way out in the marsh, secluded, just as Kya was. It sucks you in and makes you feel it. It's beautifully written and hard to put down, and is worth every bit of the hype it's received. One of the best books of 2018 for sure.
Kya raises herself and though there are others with whom she communicates and spends time over the years (Tate, Chase, Jumpin', Jodie), I'd argue that the second main character is really the marsh itself. It's a part of Kya and she is a part of it.
The story flashes back and forth in time between the 50s -- where we see Kya's family all leave her, one by one -- through the 60s as she raises herself alone on the marsh, befriending (and falling in love with) her brother's friend Tate, watching as he leaves too, and falling in love with star quarterback Chase Andrews. All the while, she remains relatively secluded in her shack out in the marsh, rarely spotted in town, and known as a mythical figure to most of the townspeople: The Marsh Girl. What they know of her is based on seeing her in her boat, and the rest they've fabricated as town gossip.
SPOILERS BELOW
But years later, when Chase Andrews is found dead in the marsh below the fire tower, all eyes are on Kya -- even though she wasn't in town at the time. Everyone believes she tricked him to the top and pushed him down. Kya, wild and free her whole life, is forced to remain in a small prison cell with just some books to occupy her.
When she is acquitted, she goes home, marries Tate, and lives out the rest of her life on the marsh. After she dies, Tate discovers some information about Kya's hidden life and clues about Chases's death, written into poems which had been secreted away in the floor boards.
END SPOILERS
This is such a beautifully written book that I could hardly believe it was a debut. It's a story of resilience, but also of what loneliness can do to a person, and how the lonely learn to trust. And after all of that, how the heart wins.
Where the Crawdads Sing refers to the area way out in the marsh, secluded, just as Kya was. It sucks you in and makes you feel it. It's beautifully written and hard to put down, and is worth every bit of the hype it's received. One of the best books of 2018 for sure.