the marsh girl and a murder

*This review contains spoliers!*
Wow, I'm having trouble deciding where to begin with what I want to say about this novel. It is so many things, and definitely earns a spot on my Top Ten list for its so many fantastic literary elements. From the intricate descriptions of nature to the incredibly complex main character, Catherine "Kya" Clark. The love story that beautifully reveals the very human need for connection and fear of abandonment. And the looming mystery of an elusive murder hanging over the small, incredibly judgmental marsh town of Barkley Cove. This story follows the uniquely solitary life of Kya as she grows from an abandoned little girl to a guarded woman, raised by the marshlands that surround the rundown shack she has known as her only home. Raised by the marsh as a wordless mother, Kya learns about the comfort and patterns of the world outside her porch steps and soon, about the power that words can hold as the young Tate Walker, the young boy who would become her first love, teaches her to read. Without revealing all the nitty gritty details, Kya faces betrayal that leaves her callous and afraid to trust anyone ever again -- that is, until the star quarterback, Chase Andrews, takes an interest in who everyone else in town has labeled as the Marsh Girl. This novel operates on two separate timelines, one working its way forwards and the other backwards to meet in the middle and converge in a murder trial unlike any that Barkley Cove has ever seen. I will admit that the story started out pretty slow for me. But having just finished reading the last 190 pages in one sitting, I can testify that pushing through the first few chapters is worth the jaw-dropping, tear-jerking end. I appreciated the poetic, descriptive language throughout the book's entirety, especially Kya's connections concerning the biology in her textbooks to the realities and complications of human relationships. And finding out that Kya was Amanda Hamilton, the poet she quotes at key parts in the plot, blew me away. The fact that the poem Tate finds hidden amongst the others at the story's end, "The Firefly," reveals that Kya was the poet all along as well as Chase Andrews' murderer only adds to the richness of Kya's primal characteristics and calculated survival instincts. It made me realize that I never thought to question whether Kya was anything but innocent, which just goes to show the brilliancy of the writing. She is a character that elicited my pity as well as awe and respect, a woman connected to our planet in ways I know I will never be. There's so much more I could express about this story, but I'll end by saying that Kya's growth in the physical sense of her collections and the mental sense of her publications really touched me. Here is my simple request: please go read this book if you haven't already. Or maybe go and reread it. I know I certainly will!



Some of my favorite quotes from Where the Crawdads Sing:

"Kya laid her hand upon the breathing, wet earth, and the marsh became her mother."

"Someone knew her name. She was taken aback. Felt anchored to something; released from something else."

"I wadn't aware that words could hold so much. I didn't know a sentence could be so full."

"Learning to read was the most fun she'd ever had."

"Autumn leaves don't fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar."

"She wished for someone's voice, presence, touch, but wished more to protect her heart."

"She hung like a sail where the wind just went out."

"Faces change with life's toll, but eyes remain a window to what was, and she could see him there."

"When the door opened she felt the breath of the sea on her face."

"Finally, after a lifetime, she admitted it was the chance of seeing Tate, the hope of rounding a creek bend and watching him through the reeds, that had pulled her into the marsh every day of her life since she was seven."

"Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild."

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