Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

This book has been nestling on my periphery for the longest time. It was creating a buzz in the States in 2018 and I had one of my ‘feelings’ about it. I nearly bought a hardback copy in Waterstones last year when it was published here but money was tight so I reluctantly dragged myself out of the shop. I put in a request at my library and finally the reservation came through. The librarian was very amused by my excitement. In a good way. She actually phoned me to tell me it was there waiting for me because she knew I was desperate to read it. 

So did it live up to my expectations? Yes, I thought the writing was lyrical and expansive and an evocative homage to the natural world. The plot could be seen as implausible but this is fiction so it can be as implausible as it likes. There is something uplifting in Kya’s story of an abandoned  child bringing herself up and maturing into a functioning adult regardless of the odds against that happening. Maybe it helps to understand something of what being lonely and solitary feels like to totally relate to Kya. You can then be more jubilant at not only her survival but her success. I suppose it's a similar theme to Marcus Zusak's 
Bridge of Clay but that was a whole group of brothers raising themselves without parental supervision not someone alone.

I think it is the writing that makes the book so rich. The writer's love and expertise of the natural world and landscape of North Carolina dominates. It sustains Kya and her survival is fuelled by her own love for those surroundings that she is at one with. 

The plot is a dual one with a murder mystery unfolding alongside the story of Kya and her growing up. That is achieved with a dual chronology. Take the murder away and you would still have a wonderfully evocative story of someone clinging to life. But the crime aspect offers the reader another dimension, some elevation not to mention some tense court room moments. There is also a broader metaphysical feel to the story in terms of comprehending the nature of trust and love, maybe  and abandonment in its widest sense.
 Neat little concluding twist but I kinda saw it coming. 

I also loved the poetry in it. In fact, I will admit this, I did stop to google Amanda Hamilton because I thought she might be a real poet! 

‘Never underrate

the heart,

Capable of deeds

The mind cannot conceive.

The heart dictates as well as feels.

How else can you explain

The path I have taken,

That you have taken

The long way through this pass?’

Thanks to my library for securing me a copy. and thanks to the librarian who phoned me up the moment it arrived in my local branch.