Review by Jack Smith
I am an avid reader and when the weather is nice, there is nothing better than sitting on the beach enjoying a great read. Last summer I couldn’t help but notice that every other woman appeared to be reading Where The Crawdads Sing. I quickly wrote the book off as just another summer chick romance novel. When I saw my wife with a copy, I knew that I had been vindicated. I must be finally getting in touch with my feminine side though, because I absolutely loved this book.
For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ haunted the Carolina low country town of Barkley Cove. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild, unfit for polite society. When Kya is six years old, she watches as her mother leaves it all behind and walks away, seemingly without a second thought. With the departure of their mother, the Clark family slowly but surely vanishes into the marsh, leaving Kya with one day of school and little else. Left to her own devices by the entire town, she begins a life of self education including a natural understanding of the marsh and the animals who inhabit it. A born naturalist, she develops the skills to live in solitude forever. The time eventually comes when she yearns for human affection, and is drawn to two local young men, both of whom are intrigued by her wild beauty. Kya opens herself to a new and startling world – until the unthinkable happens. When one of the boys turns up dead, the whole town turns on Kya. To get a five star rating from stingy Jack Smith, a book must grab me from the first paragraph and hold my attention until the last page. This book does both.
