Chances are you’ve already read this book.  But if you haven’t you should go do it now.  Clearly it will be a movie before the next Oscars.  I’m torn who I imagine in main character roles.

Haunting and sad, this is a story of loneliness at the most fundamental level. But it’s also a story of perseverance and survival, love and heartbreak, all while being a murder mystery and alluring narrative of the natural beauty of the marshlands of North Carolina.

How can it be all these things?  It’s a beautifully written effort by Owens, almost written as a screenplay with vividly created characters that jump off the pages.

In particular the intelligent and sensitive Kya, who endures a painful childhood and abandonment at age six.  The young girl survives alone in the North Carolina marsh, dubbed the Marsh Girl by the towns people and shunned for her mysterious existence.

A survivor at heart Kya will endure, grow and find passion, only to become the prime suspect in a town murder mystery.

Can she endure this ultimate test of survival?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Five stars for Where the Crawdads Sing

Read last week’s review of The Tao of Pooh