alisonlittleblog

If this is one of the books you were intending to read over lock down, but were yet to get to the novel, leave it no longer. A magnificent novel, covering so many proceedings from a young girl coming of age, to rape, to murder, to the justice system. A love story, a murder mystery and a courtroom drama intertwining through one narrative.

A love story, a murder mystery and a courtroom drama

This is Delia Owens: the author’s, initial fictional novel, although she has been published widely over the study of wildlife within Africa. She learned courage during her formative years in South Georgia from her parents. The title came from an expression of her mothers:

‘Go Play yonder where the Crawdads Sing’

An intensely illusionary use of the language, the wilds of marsh visualised within the mind of the reader. Characters which we get to know and see grow through the novel, those we miss when we have finished reading.

Go Play yonder where the Crawdads Sing

We follow the journey of a young girl: Kya from birth to her eventual death. The survival of abject poverty to becoming self-sufficient from a tender age. A lifestyle of isolation where only one day of school is ever attended, self taught and assisted by a boy who will become her lifelong partner. Artwork and literal understandings of her engagements with marine life are published widely. We encounter many aspects of marginalisation, but ultimately ‘Swamp Girl’ was to the waterways of North Carolina, what ‘Stig’ was to the dump: where she belonged and thrived. 

‘Swamp Girl’ was to the waterways of North Carolina, what ‘Stig’ was the dump.

Where the Crawdads sing is to be made into a film to be produced by Reese Witherspoon. Delia has met with Reece and is very optimistic about the movie and the portrayal of Kya. Filming in the marshlands of North Carolina is due to start later in the year. She has also begun work on a second novel, again set in remoteness, but this time the wilds of Florida.

A narrative of twists where the justice of literature wins in righteousness over the legal system of mid-century America. Literary fiction at its greatest, but could easily be read on a rainy day of your staycation. Don’t leave it on your ‘Next lock-down’ list and get reading!