“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

I am a person who likes the structure of walls rather than the wonder of nature. I like stories set in small, but chic New York apartments, quaint Paris flats or industrial lofts in Los Angeles. So for a book about nature to interest me, it better have some romance, some intrigue and a whole lot of drama. “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens hits all of these marks. The book has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 36 weeks and, as of last week, was at number one. The book follows the story of Kya Clark, otherwise known as Marsh Girl, a fixture on Barkley Cove along North Carolina's coast. Abandoned by her parents and the rest of her family, when she is just a little girl, Kya raises herself and learns to not only live off the land, but also study it. Her quiet existence is interrupted when she meets a kind boy named Tate who teachers her how to read. He opens up her world and gives her the power of words. But their solitude is interrupted when another boy, Chase, bursts into Kya’s life. When Chase is found dead, all signs seem to point to Kya as the likely suspect. The New York Times called the book, “A painful beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature.” I found it to be a wonderful book to read indoors or out. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.