The first time I heard about Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was an email my mom forwarded me from a cousin of hers who lives in California. She had read it, and emailed all of her friends and relatives to recommend it. Then I started noticing it popping up on blogs that I follow on "Must Read!!" lists. I suggested it for our book club and it was one of the books chosen for 2020. We will be discussing it coming up in June.
My initial expectations for this book were extremely high, but then they were brought back down a bit. My Aunt Nora was given the book by a fellow cruiser on the ship last fall; she read it and passed it along to my mom, saying she liked it but it was just OK. My mom read it before me and she, too, had a similar review: easy read, but nothing that blew her socks off.
I'm kind of glad that my expectations were lowered before reading it, because I think that caused me to enjoy it that much more. I absolutely LOVED this book, guys. LOVED it. I almost hate to say that, because now I'm raising your expectations. But truly, this is one of my favourite books that I've read in recent memory. I blew through it in a week. (That is fast for me; I am a slow reader). I was choosing to read instead of watch TV, which is also unusual behaviour on my part. I just couldn't wait to get back to that place, that story, to see what the next chapter would hold.
This story centres on the main character, Kya, and it begins in the 1950's, as young Kya's world begins to tear apart at the seams. Her home is a place of both great love and great despair: a shack near a marsh along the North Carolina coast, where her drunken father provides little, but she, her mother, and siblings love each other dearly. However, her mother cannot take any more abuse and abruptly leaves the marsh, and shortly thereafter, so do all of Kya's older siblings. She is left alone with her abusive father, until he, too, leaves her behind. From a very young age, Kya learns to take care of herself, and comes to truly love her lonely existence, exploring the marsh and learning from it.
The townspeople nearby come to call her as The Marsh Girl. They see little of her, and know even less about her. However, Kya eventually grows into a beautiful young woman, and develops a relationship with two different men from the town, leading to self-discovery and even more learning from both of them and the land around her. That is, until Kya is unexpectedly thrust into a murder investigation and her world is turned topsy-turvy once more.
This book literally came to life in my hands from the very first chapter. I quickly caught on to the "voice" of the story, and the way Kya and the people around her talk. I could hear their accents in my mind. I also gravitated to Kya as such a sympathetic character, and marveled at her courage and endurance, her will to survive even when it seemed that everything was stacked against her. Of course, there's enough of a love story too, to keep me drawn in and invested. I wanted so badly for Kya to find happiness, and to let her walls down enough to let in the one who I felt was her true soulmate.
Throughout the novel, woven in between the story of Kya's coming-of-age, is a murder mystery of sorts. One of Kya's former love interests, the handsome beloved local, Chase Andrews, is found dead. As the investigation develops, Kya is named as the prime suspect. As the novel hurtled to a close with Kya on trial for Chase's murder, I found myself gripped, unable to put the book down until I found out if she was deemed innocent or not, and who, if not her, did murder Chase?
I loved the descriptive writing, I loved the little snippets of poetry inserted into the storyline, and I loved the characters. When I opened the book, I was transported to a different time and place, and I believe that is truly the mark of a great novel. To open a book and escape to another world is what every reader is hoping for, I believe.
I was also intrigued to hear that Reese Witherspoon apparently owns the rights to turn this book into a movie. I think it would play out on the big screen AMAZINGLY well. Coincidentally, I also pictured Kya as Reese Witherspoon's character in the movie The Man in the Moon, especially during her younger days. That's probably why I always had an issue with one physical trait of Kya's - her long black hair. I always pictured her as a blonde. It was literally the only hiccup I came across while reading it; otherwise, the pictures just came to life like a movie in my mind. I hope that one day I actually will be able to see it on the big screen.
I gave this book a 5-star rating on Goodreads, a rating that I don't hand out that often. I would absolutely recommend it to fellow readers, and I am so interested to see at our book club meeting in June how the other ladies felt about it. If you have already read it, please let me know in the comments what you thought of it!
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