Where the Crawdads sing: Book review


Book review 

Title: Where the crawdads sing
Author: Delia Owens
Genre: Literary fiction 

'Where the Crawdads sing' is a story centered around the trials and tribulations of a marsh girl's life.  

Set in coast town of  NorthCarolina, there are many alleged rumors about the Marsh girl namely Kya. Kya,however, is just a lonely child abandoned by her family. She treats the marsh  as her mother and finds solace in the sea gulls and herons around the area.  She doesn’t know to read or write but can read nature and tides to perfection. 

 As Kya comes of age, she has a couple of affairs- one particularly with Chase Andrews- a popular athlete in town. When Chase Andrews is found murdered, all blame falls on Kya, ultimately leading to a heated debate and drama inside the courtroom.  

This is a book that is a coming of age story as well as a murder mystery, which makes it quite an engaging read. The debut author in her lucid style of writing describes the beauty of desolated marshlands of North Carolina through the eyes of a little girl. Some of the descriptions of the marsh tends to remind one of Amitav Ghosh's 'book-The hungry tide'.  

Themes of family, change and loneliness are also explored here.  The court room drama keeps the readers on the edge of the seat. This story also reiterates the fact that Mother Nature tends to nurture those souls who have no-one else to care for them. 

The character of Kya elicits both sympathy and admiration from the readers. Heartbreaking, enticing and haunting, 'Where the Crawdads sing' is a book that is lyrical, poignant and a wonderful tribute to nature.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heidi: Movie review

Image
I had read this classic by Johanna Spyri as a little girl. I won it as a prize along with my merit card when I was graduating from Primary to Middle School.  When I stumbled upon this on Amazon Prime, I was delighted. It always feels good to watch your favorite fictional characters on screen. Its often slated that the book is always better as it captures a lot more depth with regards to the plot and characters. However a couple of adaptations that I had seen in the recent past made a good watch. A couple of them ended up being a visual treat. One was The Call of the Wild which showcased the beauty of the Alaskan Wilderness. Another one was Heidi which exhibited the splendor of the snow clad Alps.  Heidi is the story of a young orphaned girl who is sent to live in the mountains with her rather eccentric grandfather-who is known as Alm Uncle by the villagers. Heidi manages to melt his heart as he develops an affection for her. She spends her carefree days in t...
Read more

100 meters : Movie Review

Image
Watched this inspiring Spanish film over the weekend on Netflix!  100 meters is a based on a true story of a man named Ramon who is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He is told that he will be able to even walk 100 meters in the next one year. Determined to prove this wrong, he takes up the challenge of doing the grueling Ironman race which involves 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking and 26.2 miles running.  With the help of his father in law with whom he initially shares a shaky relationship with, he begins to train relentlessly. Ramon faces challenges on the way and is almost pushed to the brink of being bed ridden. He overcomes every hurdle with grit and a positive frame of mind. It remains to be seen if he actually finishes the race.  This movie struck a chord in many ways. A triathlon is not just a race-its a humbling journey which alters your life forever. The training period is especially a challenging one as it demands a lot out of you. The film showcases the i...
Read more

My friend Ganesha: Friendship with God

Image
-By Swetha Amit http://content.msn.co.in/MSNContribute/Story.aspx?PageID=b7ab149a-5f35-4861-8859-6a890ddb71fe Loneliness often propels one to longingly seek a friend. Times like these often push us into a solitary stance or we find our solace in the road to spirituality striking an unspoken friendship with God. My friend Ganesha is one such film which depicts this divine friendship between a child and the elephant faced God and takes you down the mythological lane. The movie revolves around a family consisting of Ashu, his parents, aunt and the maid Gangubhai who places her sincere devotion in Lord Ganapathy. Ashu is a lonely child devoid of any friends and to top it all he is bullied by his counterparts at every given opportunity. To make matters worse, his parents who are caught up with the corporate lifestyles hardly spend time with him. One day he ends up saving a little mouse from the harsh rains. On sharing this with the maid, leaves her enthralled enough to tell him of being the...
Read more