'Where the crawdads sing' by Delia Owens

Where the crawdads sing by Delia Owens, a book that suddenly appeared everywhere, recommended by diverse readers.

A debut novel. Difficult to get into, but it was a book club book so I kept reading. I’m not sure how long it took to get into it but oh how I loved the book. The main character. The descriptions. Written by a scientist who spent most of her life immersed in nature, surrounded by wildlife and away from people, it conveys a depth of knowledge about nature’s rhythms that is utterly engaging.

It’s the story of a young girl who is abandoned by family and lives on her own in the marsh. Other family members leave one after the other; the mother first, than the siblings, the father disappears, returns, disappears again until at some stage she gives up waiting for his return. Delia, around 7 at the beginning of the book, distrusts people, escapes school, detests the village people who view her with suspicion. For years she lives in the marsh, observes the birds, the grasses. A friendship develops with a boy who teaches her to read and introduces her to the world of books and libraries.

 The book describes a life far removed from what we know as normal. No school. No adult supervision nor care. Delia learns to cook. To create an income by selling the mussels she collects. The word of boredom does not exist in this natural world of wonder; the delight in seeing a bird, in finding a feather, emanates from the pages.

The book covers Delia’s life. How she lives alongside the judgmental community, finds her niche, struggles with people in general but finds her place after all. She is a strong character, looking after herself all her life.

All characters in the book are well drawn, and the ending makes perfect sense. One bookclub member dismissed the book as ‘too unrealistic’. It’s a novel, not a non-fiction book aspiring to be true in all facts, and I don’t care if it’s realistic or not. It’s a fabulous read and highly recommended.