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For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world -- until the unthinkable happens.… (more)
BookshelfMonstrosity: Though much about these novels is dissimilar, both offer a historical Southern setting and a farcical trial that illuminates the small-minded nature of a town's inhabitants. Both atmospheric novels also feature young female protagonists who come of age under challenging circumstances.… (more)
dmenon90: Similar marsh setting, young girl protagonist, complicated relationships with men, themes of danger and survival. But the Davidson book is magical realism.
BookshelfMonstrosity: Both coming of age stories are character driven and center on young women living on the outskirts of society. Vivid imagery of locales in the southern United States feature prominently.
shaunie: Both have a girl growing up in unusual, deprived circumstances at the centre of the story. My Absolute Darling, whilst flawed, is far better written.
A swamp and a marsh are very different environments. A marsh is a thriving and nurturing place, and it’s there, along the North Carolina coast, that Kya lived and survived after being abandoned by her family as a young girl. Kya spent her days alone, observing the surrounding natural world, and it served her well.
Though she loved her marsh dearly, sometimes the loneliness was too much, especially as she grew into a young women. But after being abandoned by everyone she loved and shunned by the locals, who could she trust with her heart?
I don’t want to ramble on too much about the plot. This stirring, character-driven novel is part coming of age story, part mystery, and part love story — between Kya and two young men who she allows in her hidden world, but most of all, between Kya and her treasured marsh.
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is a gorgeously written and haunting novel with an unforgettable heroine, the Marsh Girl. What a bittersweet ending!! Tears, tears, tears. Just lovely.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Penguin’s First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review. ( )
Prachtig geschreven boek over een meisje dat opgroeit in de moerasgebieden van North Carolina. Verlaten door haar familie groeit ze daar op en ontwikkelt ze een sterke relatie met de natuur en ook een aantal mensen. Als één van haar relaties dood wordt aangetroffen, wordt zij als outsider al snel verdacht van moord. Aanrader ( )
Excellent! Loved the story and the setting. I picked this one up because of the high ratings and rave reviews - and was not super excited: expecting a 'Nell' (movie) redo - but it's so very much not 'Nell'. Kya is her own unique character and the lovingly described marshland setting she lives in is also an important character in the book. The book is part coming of age, part romance, part murder mystery - and does all three quite well. Highly recommended. ( )
Brilliant. Moving. Beautiful. This was such a great book, at times heart wrenching, at times filled with the beauty of the natural world and at times laying bare the baser instinct of humans. ( )
As one who has worked with individuals who have been accused of crimes, from Where the Crawdads Sing, I learned again the depth of compassion. When we lead with compassion first, we also seek to understand rather than to judge. I fell in love with this book easily. I was taken aback by the rich descriptions of the swamplands of North Carolina. I adored following Kya like a seagull waiting for what cornbread crumbs may slip through her fingers. Lastly, the murder stayed in the back of my mind, waiting like an unfinished mystery of the shelf of Kya’s marsh-made home… ( )
Steeped in the rhythms and shadows of the coastal marshes of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, this fierce and hauntingly beautiful novel centers on...Kya’s heartbreaking story of learning to trust human connections, intertwine[d] with a gripping murder mystery, revealing savage truths. An astonishing debut.
A painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature....Owens here surveys the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast through the eyes of an abandoned child. And in her isolation that child makes us open our own eyes to the secret wonders—and dangers—of her private world.
added by Dariah | editThe New York Times Book Review
Here’s to’d ya If I never see’d ya I never knowed ya. I see’d ya I knowed ya I loved ya, Forever.
First words
Marsh is not swamp.
Quotations
Crows can't keep secrets any better than mud; once they see something curious in the forest they have to tell everybody.
"There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot."
The shack sat back from the palmettos, which sprawled across sand flats to a necklace of green lagoons and, in the distance, all the marsh beyond. Miles of blade-grass so tough it grew in salt water, interrupted only by trees so bent they wore the shape of the wind.
Mostly, the village seemed tired of arguing with the elements, and simply sagged.
The rain eased. A single drop, here then there, shook a leaf like the flick of a cat's ear.
Saltwater marsh, some say, can eat a cement block for breakfast.
Barkley Cove served its religion hard-boiled and deep-fried.
Kya bit her bottom lip as she watched. Wondering how it would feel to be among them. Their joy created an aura almost visible against the deepening sky.
The scattered encampment was in deep woods, back from the sea, with no breeze, and "more skeeters than the whole state of Jawja."
Finally, between dusk and dawn, that time when the shadows were unsure, she walked back toward the shack by way of the oak clearing.
A great blue heron is the color of gray mist reflecting in blue water.
Kya stood and walked into the night, into the creamy light of a three-quarter moon. The marsh's soft air fell silklike around her shoulders. The moonlight chose an unexpected path through the pines, laying shadows about in rhymes. She strolled like a sleepwalker as the moon pulled herself naked from the waters and climbed limb by limb through the oaks. The slick mud of the lagoon shore glowed in the intense light, and hundreds of fireflies dotted the woods.
Here in daylight, reality drifted ahead, waiting, and her throat dried.
Closing his eyes, he played "Shenandoah," his palm fluttering on the instrument like a bird trapped against glass. It was a lovely, plaintive sound, like a note from a faraway home.
With Chase, she felt exposed, as if someone were filleting her like a fish.
She laughed for his sake, something she'd never done. Giving away another piece of herself just to have someone else.
Like everyone else, he had heard stories about the Marsh Girl, and over the years had seen her occasionally, either drifting sleekly through waterways as part of the current or scurrying from the grocery like a coon from a rubbish bin.
She took her bedding to the beach and sat with the gulls. They paid her no mind, preening outstretched wings before settling down on the sand like feathered stones. As they chortled softly and tucked their heads for the night, she lay as close to them as she could get. But even among their soft cooing and ruffling, Kya couldn't sleep. Mostly she tossed from one side to the other, sitting up each time the wind mimicked footfalls.
Dawn surf roared on a slapping wind that stung her cheeks.
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world -- until the unthinkable happens.
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Wikipedia in English
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Though she loved her marsh dearly, sometimes the loneliness was too much, especially as she grew into a young women. But after being abandoned by everyone she loved and shunned by the locals, who could she trust with her heart?
I don’t want to ramble on too much about the plot. This stirring, character-driven novel is part coming of age story, part mystery, and part love story — between Kya and two young men who she allows in her hidden world, but most of all, between Kya and her treasured marsh.
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is a gorgeously written and haunting novel with an unforgettable heroine, the Marsh Girl. What a bittersweet ending!! Tears, tears, tears. Just lovely.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Penguin’s First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review. (