Description

#1 New York Times Bestseller

A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick

“I can’t even express how much I love this book! I didn’t want this story to end!” Reese Witherspoon

“Painfully beautiful.” The New York Times Book Review

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life – until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Celeste Ng, WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

Publisher Review

A story that's evocative and sad and with a remarkable heroine * Image magazine * This is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story, perfect for book clubs * Candis * A lush debut novel, Owens delivers her mystery wrapped in gorgeous, lyrical prose. It's clear she's from this place-the land of the southern coasts, but also the emotional terrain-you can feel it in the pages. A magnificent achievement, ambitious, credible and very timely * Alexandra Fuller, New York Times bestselling author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight * Heart-wrenching...A fresh exploration of isolation and nature from a female perspective along with a compelling love story. * Entertainment Weekly * Both a coming-of-age story and a mysterious account of a murder investigation told from the perspective of a young girl...Through Kya's story, Owens explores how isolation affects human behavior, and the deep effect that rejection can have on our lives * Vanity Fair * A nature-infused romance with a killer twist * Refinery29 * This lush mystery is perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver * Bustle * Unsettling and tinged with sadness, yet astonishingly fresh, powerful and mesmerising - with a surprising ending that will haunt you. I couldn't put it down * The Lady * Steeped in the rhythms and shadows of the coastal marshes of North Carolina's Outer Banks, this fierce and hauntingly beautiful novel centers on...Kya's heartbreaking story of learning to trust human connections, intertwine[d] with a gripping murder mystery, revealing savage truths. An astonishing debut. * People * The strength of the story comes from the sympathetic portrait of its heroine who cannot fail to captivate, right up until the surprising end * UK Press Association and Independent I * Unsettling and tinged with sadness, yet astonishingly fresh, powerful and mesmerising - with a surprising ending that will haunt you. I couldn't put it down * The Lady * An Amazon Best Book of August 2018: This novel has a mystery at its core, but it can be read on a variety of levels. There is great nature writing; there is coming of age; and there is literature. Crawdads is a story lovingly told-one that takes its time in developing its characters and setting, and in developing the story. You'll want to relax and take your time as well, and when you're done you will want to talk about it with another reader. * Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review * For sheer escapism pick up Where The Crawdads Sing . . . there is writing that takes your breath away * The Times (separate review) * Owens combines high tension with precise detail about how people dress, sound, live and eat - the case studies in her book are both human and natural . . . Surprise bestsellers are often works that chime with the times. Though set in the 1950s and 60s, Where the Crawdads Sing is, in its treatment of racial and social division and the fragile complexities of nature, obviously relevant to contemporary politics and ecology. But these themes will reach a huge audience though the writer's old-fashioned talents for compelling character, plotting and landscape description * the Guardian * Kya is a compelling character, Owen's descriptive prose is lushly impressive, and the twist in the narrative's tail is neat * Sunday Times Culture * For a debut the prose is impressively accomplished . . . A Hollywood film seems inevitable. Yet it will be hard to match on screen the delicacy of Owens's exploration of the natural world. Kya and her magical little world are a rare achievement * The Times * Part murder-mystery, part coming-of-age novel, its evocation of the marshland and its inhabitants is as unforgettable as Kya herself. A story of loneliness, survival and love that's as engrossing as it is moving * Daily Mail * A painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature . . . Owens here surveys the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast through the eyes of an abandoned child. And in her isolation that child makes us open our own eyes to the secret wonders-and dangers-of her private world * New York Times Book Review *