Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
How long can you protect your heart? 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 ...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780735219090
ISBN-10: 0735219095
Publication Date: 8/14/2018
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 283

4.4 stars, based on 283 ratings
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

dragoneyes avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 841 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
Very well written. This book totally immersed me within the first few pages. I was so taken aback on how much I felt I was in the marsh and hanging out with Kya, Tate and Jumpin'. I didn't want to leave. Even after finishing the book I had to go make me some beans and onions with some fried corn just to hold onto it a little more.
This one is definitely a keeper and will forever be remembered.
Bonnie avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 422 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I finished Crawdads a few days ago, and believe it will be one of the books of the year. Images from that story still pop into my head. To think a woman who worked in Africa for many years and now lives in Idaho could write such a detailed, vibrant book of the NC marshes is just amazing. The swamps were alive, the characters perfectly drawn with no one over-colored. The storyline of a little girl surviving with the bare help of one man and his wife, and how she managed it was beyond interesting. Granted, she was as clever as all get out, and a quick learner, but how she survived is almost unbelievable, yet believable. The story itself was imaginative, the mystery intriguing, and so well woven that until the last few pages, I never guessed the whodunit!
debbiemd avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on
Helpful Score: 4
Beautifully written book. Story of a girl/woman growing up in the NC/SC coastal marsh area. Her family is poor and they live in a shack on the marshland. Story takes place through the late 50s and 60s. In the very first chapters we see her abusive, alcoholic father, her mother who leaves in the very beginning in an effort to save herself but leaves her 5 children behind, and then the older siblings who also leave. Kya, age 6, is left with her father who also abandons her in a few years. She had no contact with the outside world except for occasional trips to town to stock up on supplies and essentially raised herself. This seemed a little incredulous. But the emotions Kya feels of abandonment and loneliness are so sad and overwhelming and it really hit me.

After raising herself in the marsh and communing with nature - shells, birds, etc - she is taught to read by a friend of one of her brothers. Tate. They fall in love but Tate ends up abandoning her also to college and his immaturity. She then bumps into another town boy, Chase, and they fall in love. Both of these relationships begin with her loneliness and desire for human contact. But Chase also abandons her. Then Chase is dead and there is the other part of the story - trying to solve what may be a murder.

The chapters alternate between the story of Kya and the story of solving the murder. Of course the stories intertwine and Kya ends up on trial for murder. There is a happy ending. And then there is a surprise ending. I'm still not sure what I think about the surprise ending. There were clues along the way in comparisons to nature and relationships among male and female animals when mating (Kya's only knowledge source since she grew up alone and unable to witness human relationships) but I did not catch the clues. Overall, I think it works for the book. Very good book.
reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I really hope you don't have to wait to get your copy of this beautiful book - I hope someone will give it to you as gift or something. I have been reading for probably over 60 years, and I do believe this book will be in my top 5!! It is mesmerizing. I can't even tell you what effect it has on your soul because it is so believable and touching.So very different from anything I have ever read.
Please, save your money and get this book.
reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 372 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Wow, a great book, just as I had been thinking that there weren't any novels worth reading.
Great characters, good story, surprise ending.
Young girl, abandoned by her family, grows up on her own in the swamp of North Carolina. Deserted by the town and looked down on, she lives her own life and gets the revenge she needs for all the pain they put her through. One of my favorites.
Read All 44 Book Reviews of "Where the Crawdads Sing"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

flyinggems avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 451 more book reviews
I picked this book up at a Library book fair and the person behind me told me it was a great book. I had high hopes for it.
At the beginning I struggled to get through. The language just did not hold my attention. The book does grow and the language is easier to understand as the character matures.
I did not like how the book was told from the main characters point of view and then would go off on tangents about back stories that she had no knowledge of. In the middle of a chapter would switch back and forth through the characters thoughts.
It was a good story but this authors writing style is not for me.
MKSbooklady avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 989 more book reviews
One of the best books I've read in a long time, haunting and beautiful. This book will stay with you long after you're finished reading. Kya is a girl left to her own devices when abandoned by everyone in her family. How she survives is an amazing story.
debs avatar reviewed Where the Crawdads Sing on + 649 more book reviews
Coming of age story of a little girl, abandoned by her entire family in the marshes of North Carolina. Beautifully written and engrossing, you accompany her on her journey through life.


Genres: