Play Book Tag discussion

Delia Owens uses her background as a wildlife biologist to anchor and provide authenticity to Where the Crawdads Sing. Within a rich matrix of description of flora and fauna, she’s woven a story which is both a murder mystery and a poignant tale of human loneliness and the need for personal connections. From 1952 into the early 2000’s, we see a bit of social evolution in rural North Carolina and follow the development of Kya, who is age six when the book starts. Everything happens against a background of the natural world of wetlands, which Owens is well- qualified to write about. The mystery of the murder, introduced in a prologue, provides tension. By the end of the book, Owens has tied up loose ends and provided a satisfactory solution to the mystery. It’s an impressive debut novel.

I found the dialogue a bit clunky, perhaps due to the author’s desire to use local dialect and accents. I’ve been in this part of the US (albeit not for long) but I had to work to imagine the voices she tried to portray. I generally like prologues and believe they are a good way to introduce tension early on in a book, but in this case, the scene in the prologue was revisited and rounded out by chapter 2, leaving me wondering why a prologue was used.

But my minor criticisms don’t overshadow the rich descriptions and unique aspects of the settings in the book. All in all, I’m glad I spent my time reading it.

I'll be reading this soon. Your review is very helpful. It sounds like this book might be better on audio. I find it much easier to listen to a book with a southern dialect, compared to sounding out words with awkward spellings.

NancyJ, Audio sounds like a good idea! If you do listen please let us know how they pronounce the girl's name (Kya). And, for anyone who gets interested in this author, I just read this fascinating bit in Slate about her life in Africa. https://slate.com/culture/2019/07/del...

Interesting... I was born in raised in the south. My dad was born near where this story took place. The accents are HEAVY even for a southerner in this area but I didn't even think about it while reading this as it comes naturally to me. I live in the PNW now and have mostly lost my accent, except for a few words (forward and iron are one syllable) Although, when I'm near family or friends for long periods, I slip right on back into it.

I absolutely loved this book, although I gave it 4 stars because of the court scene. Great review and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Charlotte wrote: "Interesting... I was born in raised in the south. My dad was born near where this story took place. The accents are HEAVY even for a southerner in this area but I didn't even think about it while r..."

Interesting to get your take on the accents! What did you not like about the court scene?

Susan wrote: "NancyJ, Audio sounds like a good idea! If you do listen please let us know how they pronounce the girl's name (Kya). And, for anyone who gets interested in this author, I just read this fascinating..."

Great review Susan!

In the audio KY rhymes with Why. The accents were not very strong at all. The narrator is very good, but I've heard her before, and she sounded pretty much the same when narrating this book as she did with The Tenth Muse.

Wow that article is very interesting!

NancyJ wrote: "Susan wrote: "NancyJ, Audio sounds like a good idea! If you do listen please let us know how they pronounce the girl's name (Kya). And, for anyone who gets interested in this author, I just read th..."

Thanks for the "why"

I listened to this as well. And I was hearing KI (like 'kite") Yah .... but thinking it was spelled KIA.

Unfortunately ... to me KIA means Killed in Action ... and for a while I couldn't get that out of my head and was expecting a major tragedy.

Susan wrote: "Interesting to get your take on the accents! What did you not like about the court scene? ..."

I don't know... I struggle to put my finger on what bothered me about it. It just seemed out of place. I don't know if it was the writing or how it was handled but it was just off for me.

Book Concierge wrote: "I listened to this as well. And I was hearing KI (like 'kite") Yah .... but thinking it was spelled KIA.

Unfortunately ... to me KIA means Killed in Action ... and for a while I couldn't get that ..."

Thanks. Heard differently by different ears. May just have t listen myself!

Charlotte wrote: "Susan wrote: "Interesting to get your take on the accents! What did you not like about the court scene? ..."

I don't know... I struggle to put my finger on what bothered me about it. It just seeme..."

Yeah, I thought the sheriff and cronies were remarkably ill prepared --but maybe that was par for the course in that time and place.