Kya wasn’t always alone in the marsh. She hadn’t always been called the Marsh Girl. There had been family times, her mother painting, cooking and laughing, her brothers and sisters playing in the surf. One by one they all left her except her father, an abusive man who suffered from war wounds. He drank too much and became violent but did have unpredictable spells of sobriety. Kya started to be completely alone when he disappeared for weeks on end. A little girl, she scrounged in the marsh, dug mussels on the beach and barely survived. But she did.
The first person to leave was her mother. Kya was only six years old. It wasn’t until this child was an adult did she understand. One brother, Jodie, stood by her the longest, teaching her the ways of the marsh and about the birds. On one of his rare times of sobriety, her father taught her more about the marsh. He was even kind, almost good to her. When she was ten years old, he too disappeared. She kept away from town, afraid of people, hiding in the ferns and trees when the truant officer came for her. Desperate for food, she dug mussels and took them to the only man she knew and trusted. Jumpin’ always took whatever she brought, gave her money. He and his wife Mabel cared for her from a distance, knowing that she was as shy as a deer in the marsh.
Kya, at that young age, was curious about Tate, a boy from the town who often fished in the marsh. Their first communication was by bird feathers and tokens. He left her a note one time, but being unable to read, she did speak to him. Tate taught her to read. A relationship began to blossom, until he went to college. He did come to see her as often as possible but slowly he left her too. Growing into womanhood, another boy she had seen since a girl came into her life. But Chase Andrews merely wanted to be ‘the first’. Leading a double life, in town a hero; in the marsh with Kya, a pseudo-gentle lover.
When the book opens, his lifeless body is found at the base of an old fire tower by two boys who recognized him. Speeding to the sheriff, a murder investigation was opened, followed by a trial. The sheriff became suspicious when there were no footprints, no fingerprints and one bit of red fluff on the victims jacket. The remainder of the story is a trial in a town already prejudiced against ‘the Marsh Girl’. No spoiler alert! There are plenty of suspects and few pieces of real evidence. Only one person ever knew the outcome.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens brought to mind, the tone and depth of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This novel will be a book that I will reread. Probably more than once. I have yet to see the movie, but I will be seeking it out!
“Kya laid her hand upon the breathing, wet earth,
and the marsh became her mother.”
~ Where the Crawdads Sing
Title: Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
Copyright: 2018
Publisher: G.P.Putnam’s Sons
Type: Novel
Format: Paperback
ISBN-Paperback - 9780735219106m
ISBN-Hardback - 9780735219090
LCCN:2018010775
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