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1950s, 1960s: The Marsh Girl is not what she seems. But what does she know?
Where the Crawdads Sing
What you need to know before your trail
For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life – until the unthinkable happens.
Travel Guide
Map from the book
The setting of Where the Crawdads Sing is the marshlands of North Carolina in and around the city of Asheville. Kya is the marshgirl in question and she grows up in the middle of nowhere. The marshlands are remote and wild. Kya has the birds and wildlife for companions and she feels even more alone as her mother has left and her father is a violent alcoholic. Her mother and carer now is Mother Nature.
“Sometimes she heard night-sounds she didn’t know or jumped from lightning too close, but whenever she stumbled, it was the land who caught her. Until at last, at some unclaimed moment, the heart-pain seeped away like water into sand. Still there, but deep. Kya laid her hand upon the breathing, wet earth, and the marsh became her mother.”
Kya is surrounded by stunning scenery and landscapes yet lives in abject poverty. When a murder is committed, she is suspected purely on the basis of being different and living on her own, on her nerves and wit.
The writing is lyrical and the setting magical as a result:
“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”
Booktrailer Review
Haunting, poignant and insightful look at life on the marsh, what living as an outsider means and how landscape can shape us.
Read The BookTrail’s full book review of Where the Crawdads Sing here
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Where the Crawdads Sing
Destination/location: North Carolina Author/guide: Delia Owens Departure Time: 1950s, 1960s
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