"Where the Crawdads Sing" is a novel by Delia Owens that tells the story of Kya Clark, a girl who grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina and is eventually implicated in a murder case. The novel combines rich descriptions of the natural world with the story of Kya’s coming-of-age and the mystery of Chase Andrews's death. The novel follows two timelines that slowly intertwine: one that describes Kya's life and adventures in the wild, and one that follows the investigation of the murder.
The book is a New York Times Bestseller and has been praised for its vivid descriptions of nature and its exploration of themes such as loneliness, abandonment, prejudice, and love .
Here is an example of a passage from the book:
> "The morning burned so August-hot, the marsh's moist breath hung the oaks and pines with fog. The palmetto patches stood unusually quiet except for the low, slow flap of the heron's wings lifting from the lagoon. And then, Kya, only six at the time, heard the screen door slap. Standing on the stool, she stopped scrubbing grits from the pot and lowered it into the basin of worn-out suds. No sounds now but her own breathing. The air changed in a way that came quickly to her because it had always been there. A sudden stillness like holding your breath when you stalk a deer. And then she heard it. Branches breaking off toward the lagoon."
