The marsh is a key player in Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (published 2018). The marsh hides the footprints and possibly other secrets behind the murder of Chase Andrews, a popular young man in the small town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina. But when the isolated Marsh Girl, Kya Clark, is suspected of murder, the question is whether or not knowing the marsh could let such a woman hide a crime like murder.
Kya Clark story is entwined with that of the marsh. She was abandoned as a child and has spent her whole life learning from the marsh. Few have been her friend. Only Tate Walker and (yes) Chase Andrews have been kind to her. Where the Crawdads Sing gives her coming -of-age story, as she deals with rejection and abandonment again and again. Why would a woman like this, a particular expert of the marsh, be suspected of murder? This the reader wonders, as the novel shifts from the murder trial in 1969 back to Kya’s childhood and then forward again.
Kya is a loveable main character, a child and then woman that the reader roots for. I felt strong emotional connection, including pity, as I read of her life. Her coming-of-age story includes a sexual awakening, and this awakening too left me feeling both sadness and annoyance at the people around her. (I will say her “getting her first period” story was the most unrealistic one I’ve ever read.) I listened to the audiobook, and the narration of the various characters was well done — there was never any doubt as to who was speaking when. For someone who wants to be immersed in a unique corner of America, or for someone interested in an historical fiction mystery on the marsh, Where the Crawdads Sing is a great choice to read.
