Where the Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens

When I looked for a review of the Netflix film Where the Crawdads Sing, I read that it was based on a book written by Delia Owens who is 73 years old; this is her first novel. At 75, I was immediately impressed. I went on to read a NYT’s article about Owens and her novel (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/19/books/where-the-crawdads-sing-delia-owens-murder-investigation.html) which is intriguing. Owens is a scientist and award winning nature writer who spent years working in Kenya as a conservationist fighting poaching. As an aside, she received her PhD in animal behavior from the University of California, Davis.

The novel is an unusual coming-of-age story about a young woman who basically raises herself in the marshes of North Carolina. The story is engaging. Much of the plot revolves around the main character, Kya, and her love of both nature and two men in her life. There is a murder mystery too. All in all, it’s quite a tale. The writing about the North Carolina marshes is lovely. I really got a sense of the territory in which the novel took place. I have not watched the film, so I can’t compare the two. Knowing Owens’ own story added to the haunting quality of her book.