A Review of Where the Crawdad's Sing by Delia Owens

SPOILER WARNING

Delia Owens’ debut novel was a complete success. Where the Crawdads Sing became a worldwide sensation, as the cover boasts. Set in 50s and 60s rural North Carolina, it introduces a fascinating protagonist in Kya Clark, a girl living alone in the marshes near the Ocean. It is a great read that examines isolation, abandonment, and childhood trauma with a murder mystery running in parallel.

Kya Clark grew up in the rural marshland of North Carolina in a small house not far from the ocean. Her mother leaves to escape her abusive father when she is very young, perhaps six years old. One-by-one, her older siblings flee the abuse as well leaving her alone with him. His alcoholism and distance makes him more of a bad roommate than a father. Eventually he disappears as well, leaving Kya by herself.

Kya stays away from people, living alone in the marsh. She manages to survive and thrive, growing up to form a romantic relationship with a boy named Tate and later another named Chase. Later, she becomes a suspect in the murder of Chase, the town suspicious of the weird marsh girl who has lived alone her whole life.

North Carolina Marshlands

Kya is a compelling character, developing interests in the ecology of the marsh as well as art and poetry. She is forced to become completely self-reliant in an environment that is dangerous and unforgiving. Yet, it is the only place she feels at home. Her family were poor, even by 1950s North Carolina standards, but she is afraid of living any other way. Her coping with abandonment by her family is fascinating and drives the first half to two-thirds of the book.

Her later relationships and sexual awakening are compelling as well. Tate, her first love, is a childhood friend who tries to break through her solitude. He leaves feathers on a tree stump because he knows she is afraid to get near or talk to anyone. The two exchanging feathers was a great way to breakthrough.

One area that was seemed a little forced was her poetry. Kya refers to her favorite poet, Amanda Hamilton, but we learn at the end that was her own pseudonym. Reciting your own poetry as if someone else wrote it seemed odd for someone who lived in complete isolation and showed no other sign of dissociative behavior. The loneliness and isolation dominates the book. To have her pretend she was another person, a poet, did not quite fit.

The second half of the book turns more to the suspicion of Kya by the people of Barkley Cove. Certainly Kya was mocked when she was a child but as she got older the people seem to ignore her or whisper rumors after she walked away. There are no direct acts of persecution. In fact, things seem to go just fine when she does need to walk into town.

When the sheriff arrests her for the murder of Chase, the town tends to believe she is capable of it simply because she is the weird marsh girl. This strikes as realistic for an ignorant small town who are weary of anything that isn’t normal or mainstream. However, Kya’s fear of the people seems limited to offensive comments made when they think she is out of earshot, or her one bad day at school. For people that endure teasing, bullying, and torment for years in school, this hardly felt like the basis for animosity from Kya’s perspective.

While they clearly think little of her, she quickly concludes they are never to be trusted. In other words, neither Kya nor the Barkley Cove really tried to get to know one another. The exceptions being Tate, Jumpin, Mabel and Chase in the more limited carnal sense.

All in all, the people of Barkley Cove seem at their worst when she was young and at the end when she goes on trial. In-between, Kya and Barkley Cove seem to coexist just fine.

The events leading up to the murder flowed well, although Chase’s escalation from womanizing jerk to violent rapist was a leap. Owens offered no instances to suggest Chase was capable of such a horrific act. An asshole? Sure, but a violent rapist hellbent on violating Kya when he is about to get married is a higher level of evil. Prior to the attack, there isn’t much to suggest he is that kind of monster.

Another theme that is more subtle is the hypocrisy of Christian values in Barkley Cove. The town’s truancy officer and others give up trying to find Kya to find a home for her or take her to school. She reached fourteen years of age and occasionally does go into town yet, no one makes genuine attempt to help her. Where was their Christian charity when they were mocking her poverty and lack of social skills?

The murder trial turns this theme a little on its head. Their hypocrisy is underminded in a way, because she did, in fact, kill Chase. So, the townspeople were right about her, just for the wrong reasons. She felt she had no choice and had to eliminate a predator. No one would protect her otherwise.

Was it the town’s fault she felt she had no choice? As explained above, Kya actively avoided making any connection with the town, preferring isolation. She attended school for one day, never accused Chase of attempted rape, and did not try a non-murderous solution. Murder was the only way. Bringing out his assault would’ve greatly complicated the trial and likely damaged the ending Owens wanted though, so it is understandable why it is buried.

Kya recalls her mother’s escape from violence when she was a child and wondered if that was the only solution. Kya was not a battered woman like her mother. She did not see running as an option as there was nowhere to go. In that, her reaction makes some sense although her desperation is assumed.

The murder itself lacks some credibility. Up until Chase’s death, Kya demonstrates none of the cleverness, knowledge, strategic planning, or cunning ruthlessness needed to execute the murder. Taking buses in the middle of the night, racing by boat to the fire tower, pushing him off, and fleeing back to her hotel a town over is quite a feat, even for someone who had those character traits.

Like the jury, I would not have believed she was capable of it. A more realistic or credible murder plot would’ve greatly strengthened the ending, which was the weakest part of the book. However, the rest of the novel more than makes up for a mediocre ending.

Overall, this book is a great read. It feels authentic for most of the journey and has one of the more compelling protagonists you’ll find.