Growing up in central North Carolina, my family and I often took trips to the coast for vacation. Although not my personal aesthetic, I find a deep sense of comfort stored in the memories and experiences tied to the coastal regions. This sense of comfort, along with many glowing reviews, led me to recently invest in a copy of Where The Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens. This coming-of-age novel exhibits in vivid detail and deep understanding the marshy wildlife inhabiting the coastal region of North Carolina, while still appealing to a much wider audience than simply those who have a tie to the area.
One reason this book is so well done is that Owens’ writing reflects the natural beauty of the location while still allowing the reader to feel like they are alongside the main character as she spends a lifetime connecting with her environment. Owens, even from a young age, has always been fascinated by nature. Although spending a decent chunk of her life studying the wildlife in Africa, Owens has a personal tie to the swampy marsh setting described in her novel. She uses imaginative language and beautiful imagery to give her audience a glimpse at the magic of the marsh.
Owen’s writing comes to life when talking about Kya, the main character of the novel. She interacts with her natural surroundings more often than with other human beings, for her family has abandoned her over the years, leaving her to fend for herself at the young age of seven. She connects more with the seagulls on the beach, naming and feeding them almost every day of her life than she does with the people that live in her small town. Kya also spends most of her time collecting and organizing small natural treasures she finds while exploring the marsh and surrounding areas. Not knowing how to read or write in the beginning, she collects feathers, shells, and other small treasures, relying heavily on the aesthetic features of her findings to catalog them in her shed.
The way Owens describes Kya’s life in the marsh allows the reader to not only visualize the setting but feel as though they are there among it. Having myself been to the area described, Owens allowed me to see the natural beauty of a familiar place through a different lens. I can only imagine the impact Owens’ writing has on those who have never physically been to the marshy coast of North Carolina.