Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. It’s a 1960s murder mystery juxtaposed with a beautiful story about living in the natural world. Set in the marsh that is the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the story follows the "Marsh Girl" Kya, who was left to fend for herself at a very young age. As she grows up, she is seen struggling with her reality of being young, alone, and lacking education. She manages to cope with these challenges by finding company in the seagulls that crowd her beachfront every day, and lessons in the marsh and all of its inhabitants.
In my own life, nature has taken many shapes; this book made me realize that. After reading about Kya’s relationship with her natural surroundings, I was able to reflect on nature in my own life and notice the many forms that it seems to take: from a challenger and a teacher to a refuge, a companion, and a marker of home.
This novel is truly “an exquisite ode to the natural world”, as its back cover says, and any nature lover will not only recognize pieces of themselves in Kya, but also, after reading, feel a renewed sense of gratitude for planet Earth and all of its complexities.
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