Book Review: Where The Crawdads Sing

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Rating: 5/5

I’ve done a couple of reviews for the LRC and I’ve realised I must be a bit picky. As much as I’ve enjoyed previous books, I’ve never quite thought they deserved top marks. A 4.5 perhaps but there’s always been something that’s stopped my handing out a 5.

So let me introduce to Where the Crawdads Sing which is just beautiful. It’s about a young girl, Kya, who is abandoned by her family one by one. Initially, she still has her drunken father as she tries to navigate her way around the kitchen, household duties and getting provisions from the the local grocery store but she eventually finds herself alone at the age of 7 in the shack where she was born in a remote area of coastal marshland of North Carolina. 

Kya continues to fend for herself – not wanting to notify the local townspeople that she is alone for fear of having to leave her beloved marshland. She has no friends but she does form close bonds with a local boating supply store owner and his wife. And Tate, a local boy who teaches her how to read. The beauty of the book is drawn from the nature around Kya. The author describes to perfection the atmosphere of the swamp which, I think to most of us would appear appear to be dark and dismal, but for Kya it’s simply full of life. There’s so much nature there. Kya lives and breathes it and would be lost without it. 

There are some heartbreaking moments, along with tender ones. One of my teary moments was towards the end when the lady from the grocery store and taught her about money, remembered how she would, unknowingly to Kya, help her by slipping a few extra coins in her change. 

I will be recommending this book to anyone who asks.

– Alison

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