It was my birthday a few months back and child#2 bought me two books. Both mysteries because apparently I like mysteries. It’s not my favourite genre (think Terry Pratchett or Jasper Fforde); though give me a good Miss Marple, Murdoch Mysteries, or Agatha Raisin and I’m happy.
So they bought me Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
I had seen this book before in the shops. Apparently I’d bought it for child#1 when they had covid (did not remember and they reminded me when I recommended they borrow my copy!). When I opened the gift bag from child#2, I said that I’d heard about the film that was advertised along the top of the front cover but hadn’t watched it.
Upon some image googling for this post, I found out that it was Reese Witherspoon who bought the rights to the book. But that is as far as my knowledge goes for the film. I cannot comment on the closeness to the book, nor on the acting or script writing.
I started the book on my nightly bus journeys home from work. Then it was also my plane read when flying ‘back home’ for New Year. It got to a point where I was reading it on the way into work as well, rather than dozing while listening to music! I met hubs#2 at the pub one day, and as I’d beat him there, I ordered the wine…and out comes the book. He complained when he arrived, but as he needed to deal with a work emergency, it at least gave me chance to finish the chapter!
Trying to write this without spoilers is hard!
The book starts with with discovery of a dead body. Was it a murder or was it an accident? We are then transported back to meet Kya (the protagonist) and watch her grow up. All while intertwining with the investigation in the future – until the stories meet, and the timeline no longer jumps.
You get to meet the characters in her life, those that pass by for just a moment, those that leave, and those that choose to stay. Kya’s parents, her brother Jodie, Tate, Jumpin’ and Mable, Chase, Tom. You get to see her passion grow and take hold of her life and flourish. You get to see her loves flourish or flounder. How she navigates her knowledge, her passion and how she uses it for survival.
The book has a poetic feel. Owens masterfully draws you in to care about Kya and her life. You want her to succeed, to overcome everything that has fallen on her shoulders. You can feel Kya’s pain, and joy, and hurt as you read. You start to care about her passions, and will her on to have a fulfilling life. Owens weaves the two storylines without making you feel like you’d rather be reading about the other story, is a skill. Especially when it’s set in different years.
Just so you are aware – crawdads are a colloquial term for crayfish. They cannot sing.
The author: Delia Owens, a zoologist and conservationist, grew up in Southern Georgia. She now lives in North Carolina. She has a BSc in Zoology from University of Georgia, and a PhD in Animal Behaviour from University of California, Davis. But Delia always wanted to be a writer, penning her memoirs (Cry of the Kalahari, Robert Hartnoll Limited 1984) whilst in Botswana studying the wildlife there.
There is controversy stating that there are similarities with this novel and Owens’ real life experiences in Zambia. You can easily google this, but for me to go into any more details (that would be taken from articles already printed) would lead to spoilers. There is also controversy over the stereotyping of black characters – as often can be by white writer, writing about mid century white protagonists. I can understand where this controversy springs from. My mind conjured up an image of the black cartoon lady (with big bosoms in a yellow dress), but I am not sure this is what Owens was expecting me to think – I am conditioned that way by white, British, 80s through 00s childhood? Delia had to do some stereotyping of “po’ folk” for the main character. And, as much as we don’t like to believe these things, the white fictional characters would have seen the black fictional characters in that stereotypical way. Do I agree with how certain human beings were, and still are, treated? No. Can I do anything about the past? No. Do I agree with stereotyping? No. Do I think this distracts from the story? No. Could this be because I’m white & British? Maybe.
Where the Crawdads Sing was published in 2018 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. It was selected for the Hello Sunshine Book Club in September 2018, the same year it was selected for Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of the year. It topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers lists for 2019 and 2020. It’s was Amazon.com’s most sold fiction book of 2019. By July 2022 the book had sold over 15 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.
Mama Needs a Drink! 