Monday, February 8, 2021

Where the Crawdads Sing


Book: Where the Crawdads Sing
Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References

Basic Information:

Author: Delia Owens

Edition: ePub on Libby from the Mountain View Public Library

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

ISBN: 0735219117 (ISBN13: 9780735219113)

Start Date: February 1, 2021

Read Date: February 8, 2021

384 pages

Genre: Fiction, Book Group

Language Warning: Medium

Rated Overall: 3 out of 5


Fiction-Tells a good story: 5 out of 5

Fiction-Character development: 5 out of 5


Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):

The story is about a young girl named Kya who lives in a marsh of North Carolina. Her mother leaves an abusive husband. All of her brothers and sisters leave as well, leaving Kya with her father. She learns enough skills to live when her father leaves her.


She lives in isolation, except to get supplies from Jumpin, a black at his gas and bait shop. She learns to avoid the townspeople as they consider those who live in the marsh as marsh people, white trash. But she also learns the ways of nature as she studies the birds around her and the marsh life.


She meets Tate who teaches her to read and math. They become more than just friends and almost lovers. But he goes away to college, not to return for a long time. In the meantime, Chase, the town's hero quarterback, takes up with her.


One of Kya’s brothers returns and wants to re-establish relations with her. He has served in Vietnam and has matured. Also Tate has returned. But Kya no longer trusts people to be there for her. Chase gets married after promising himself to her. Tate helps Kya get published.


A while later Chase is found dead at the foot of a fire lookout. Sheriff determines it is murder. Suspicion falls on Kya. Kya is arrested and put on trial. She is found innocent. Tate and Kya get together without being married. After a long life, Kya dies. It is then the person who killed Chase is revealed.



Cast of Characters:
  • Kya Clark-Protagonist. Real name is Catherine Danielle Clark. Born about 1945
  • Chase Andrews-Town hire, start quarterback
  • Tate-person who occasionally went into the marsh to fish. Becomes a marsh biologist. Sets up with Kya.
  • Jumpin’-black person who runs the marine gas and bait shack. Described as white sideburns, salt-and-pepper hair, wide and generous face with owl eyes.
  • Mabel-Jumpin’s wife
  • Ma-dies of cancer after leaving the family. She is grief stricken and guilty about leaving her children.
  • Pa-Jake (Jackson) Clark. Violent alcoholic. Abusive towards family. WWII veteran with a shattered leg.
  • Jodie Clark-Kya’s brother who goes into the army, fights in Korea.
  • Chase Andrews-town quarterback, marries a person other than Kya, unfaithful, murder victim. Always ran in a pack with him at the head.
  • Ed Jackson-Sheriff of Barkley Cove
  • Joe Perdue-Deputy Sheriff
  • Amanda Hamilton-minor local poet who gets published in a local newspaper. In reality, Hamilton is Kya’s alter-ego.
  • Tom Milton-Kya’s attorney defending her against a murder charge.

Thoughts:

Using the map from the book helps to keep oriented

Warning: There will be some plot giveaways in my summary and thoughts here. Hopefully nothing which will make the story less enjoyable.


Takes place in North Carolina, probably directly east of Greenville, NC.


Why is there a fire tower on the coast in a swamp? Do fires burn that often in a locality like that?


There is a helpful map at the start of the book. Couple of things about the map: it would be helpful to know the scale of the map. Second twice in the book it talks about a road which can be driven. The map shows a trail, not a road. Is that the same thing? Also from my experience, a road not used and maintained will decay and get overgrown.


Poets used:

To me, the story is OK talking about nature, a little girl surviving to womanhood without the benefit of parents.


But as a story of mystery, Owens really needs work. Based on what she presents, there is some evidence of who the murderer is and why it was done. There are components which would lead you to the killer, but also some improbabilities which spoil the whole effect, at least nothing which would really make the killing seem possible. Even more so, the timing would need to be just right-a late bus, the friend being met late or early, being sighted, or the victim putting up a fight would have caused the plan not to work.



Prologue (Oct 30, 1969)

Chase Andrews is found dead in a swamp, below an abandoned fire tower. Two boys discover it.


1. Ma (1952)

Her mother leaves her five children-Jodie and Kya without saying a word. Description of the marsh. Outcasts of the area. Her father, Pa either was silent or shouted.


2. Jodie (1952)

Kya’s two older sisters and one older brother drifted away as their Pa got mad at them. After a while, Jodie says that he Can’t live here no longer. He is leaving the shack and her and their Pa. Jodie leaves her this sage advice: if anybody comes, do not go into the house-they can catch you there. Also be sure to cover your tracks like Jodie showed her how. Kya is now like the little piggies: this little piggy stayed home. Kya is left alone for three days while Pa is out, unknown where. Kya learned how to avoid their Pa-She and Pa did this two-step, living apart in the same shack.


He had been in World War II, shattering his left femur.


A young Chase Andrews on a bike almost runs her over and thinks it is funny.


3. Chase (1969)

Two boys discover Chase Andrews body. Goes and gets the Sheriff. No tracks to the body.


Death’s crude pluck, as always, stealing the show.


4. School (1952)

Truant officer comes to take her to school. Kya is now seven and has not been to school. There was a school only for whites-remember this is the South in 1952. She goes to school for a day, enticed by the offer of a free lunch. Other kids make fun of her. She did not go back, even though the truant officer comes back for her every so often. Kya still looks for her mother to return.


5. Investigation (1969)

The sheriffs go into the tower to look around. They see that a grate had been left open and that one of the beams had a splotch of hair and was damaged.


6. A Boat and a Boy (1952)

Pa goes off for a couple of days to see about collecting more veteran’s pay. Kya takes the boat out without her father’s permission. She gets lost. Meets up with Tate, a friend of Jodie. Tate leads her back to her shack. It surprised her that Tate knew her name: She was taken aback. Felt anchored to something; released from something else


Talks about Tate’s background. His father is a fisherman. Tate’s father says that Don’t go thinking poetry’s just for sissies. There’s mushy love poems, for sure, but there’s also funny ones, lots about nature, war even. Whole point of it—they make ya feel something.”


7. The Fishing Season (1952)

Kya receded from the town’s people. There were a few of them which she came in contact with-the cashier at the store. Her family’s memories were receding, Even Jodie’s face was fading.


Pa came back after four days. He takes her out to go fishing. This was shared times, catching a fish and seeing her father’s excitement-what it cost her and what it cost that fish was worth it to have this little shred of family. She picks up feathers and shells and nests and studies them. Pa gives her his Army knapsack. Pa did know the marsh and told Kya about it.


8. Negative Data (1969)

Reports come back about Andrews’ death. Between midnight and 2am on Oct 29-30, 1969. No tracks or footprints. No fresh fingerprints.


9. Jumpin’ (1953)

Description of Jumpin and his gas and bait store. Pa takes Kya to Jumpin’s place for gas. Then to her first time in a restaurant. After that, Kya and a little girl start talking. This was the Methodist minister’s daughter. The mother realizes that the daughter is talking with Kya, marsh trash, and pulls her away. Owens' take is that Barkley Cove served its religion hard-boiled and deep-fried. The mother considered Kya unclean.


Kya gets a letter from her mother. She cannot read, so she shows it to her Pa. Her father burns the letter. She prays that her mother and Jodie come home. But the conclusion she has is that No god’s gonna come to this garden.


10. Just Grass in the Wind (1969)

Sheriff goes out to find tracks-there are none.


11. Croker Sacks Full (1956-Kya would be 11)

Pa is seen less and less. Also Kya has less and less resources. This comes to a head when she runs out of kerosene. She collects mussels and sells them to Jumpin for gas and change. She starts trading with Jumpin on a regular basis.


12. Pennies and Grits (1956)

Pa has not returned. Kya is getting lonely. She sees town kids at a beach playing around. Other people digging mussels are catching on and come earlier than Kya. She tries drying fish-not very well. Jumpin’s wife, Mabel takes pity on her and has her church folk get some clothes for her.Mabel also teaches her how to plant a garden.


13. Feathers (1960-Kya would be about 15)

Kya is now learning self-reliance. No longer did she daydream of winging with eagles; perhaps when you have to paw your supper from mud, imagination flattens to that of adulthood. I think to go Biblical, the cares of this world causes people not to thrive.


Tate entices Kya into a relationship with little gifts, like exotic feathers.


Interesting phrase of seeing all of the white. I do not observe that deeply. But there are different shades of white. And if done right, this shading can be interesting. I am going through some snow pictures and I am seeing different shades of white in them. Wonder how much is the camera and how much is true.


Talks about how a wild turkey gang will kill off a weak one rather than let it be killed by a wild beast.


14. Red Fibers (1969)

Autopsy shows that Andrews fell from the tower, striking head on a crossbeam. Found red wool fibers.


15. The Game (1960)

Gift exchange starts. She thinks that It didn’t fit that anyone who liked birds would be mean.


Kya thinks about a fun time they had when they got stuck in the mud with her sisters. we got stuck, but what’d we girls do? We made it fun, we laughed. That’s what sisters and girlfriends are all about. Sticking together even in the mud, ’specially in mud.” But nobody stuck with her.


Tate offers to teach her to read


16. Reading (1960)

Even with the limited interaction with Tate, Kya realized her loneliness: loneliness had become a natural appendage to Kya.


She tries to go to the colored town, but finds some white boys about ready to go after Jumpin. She surprise attacks them and they run off.


Tate teachers her to read. Learning to read was the most fun she’d ever had. Tate’s motive? He has fallen for her. A by-product of learning to read is that she can now understand her family tree in their Bible (Time ensures children never know their parents young.) Owens talks about the family history and how her Pa was pretty much a grifter who married into wealth, but never achieved it. Drinking got the best of him. He got wounded in WW II and it became an excuse for not achieving. They moved to the marsh and lived off of what was sold from her family.


17. Crossing the Threshold (1960)

Social Services is curious about Kya. Tate mentions they talk like they do because they are from North Carolina.


Tate explains about where the crawdads sing. Means someplace wild where the critters are still wild. She knows of a run down shack way in the marsh. This becomes their reading place.


The words in poems do more than say things. They stir up emotions. Even make you laugh. Poems are something I have a hard time with. Reading an Edward Lear poem, Kya tries her hand at poetry. Also James Wright and Galway Kinnell


Kya starts menstruating and does not know what it is. Tate gives a basic explanation and sends her to Mabel..


Tate and her kiss. For the first time she feels something different, full.


18. White Canoe (1960)

Tate and Kya continue their relationship. There is the reading and Kya being able to grasp and pick up what is in the books. once you can read anything you can learn everything. But the one thing she was not finding, Within all the worlds of biology, she searched for an explanation of why a mother would leave her offspring. The nagging question of her life. Tate and Kya explore Kya’s body, but not that far. But also Tate is going away to college.He says goodbye, but will see her in a month.


19. Something Going On (1969)

The Sheriff thinks that Andrews had something going on in the marsh.


20. July 4 (1961)

Kya waits for Tate’s return. No Tate. He failed her.


Kya is studying fireflies. you learn a lot more about something when it’s not in a jar. She notices that the female gives off different signals to try to attract different mates from different types of fireflies. The first of her kind, she mated. The second one she ate.


21. Coop (1961)

Kya goes into depression when Tate does not return. She thought he was different. To stay. You said you loved me, but there is no such thing. There is no one on Earth you can count on. Her conclusion: Needing people ended in hurt.



PART 2 The Swamp

22. Same Tide (1965 Kya would be 19 or 20)

She is at the beach when the town's kids come by, tossing a football. Chase sees her. Being noticed by someone had lit a social cord. Another day she is getting gas when Chase introduces himself.


Tate had come back, but not on July 4th. He had been delayed with the chance to be part of a professor's field trip. When he did come back, he felt he could no longer face her and did not.


Interesting that Owens says that Kya recalls the poem of a lesser-known poet, Amanda Hamilton. From how Owens writes, Hamilton is someone else. We find out that Hamilton is closely connected to Kya. I think Owens could have said this differently and more honestly.


23. The Shell (1965)

Picnic date is set with Chase. She goes to his boat where he helps her into it: touching someone meant giving part of herself away, a piece she never got back. Seems like Kya is willing to give love another chance after Tate: She’d given love a chance; now she wanted simply to fill the empty spaces. Chase is in awe of her as she knows many things about her natural surroundings which surprises him since everything has it she is illiterate. Chase thinks she is going to be an easy female to have sex with. She is not ready for him. Only time male mammals hover is when they’re in the rut.


Location of this picnic is a bit confusing. From their renedouz, Chase’s boat heads south past Point Beach which means they were either at the town docks or Jumpin’s place. But why go up there when they are heading just out from Kya’s cabin? And yet at the end she walks back to her boat rather than ride back in his boat.


l24. The Fire Tower(1965)

She spotted Chase with his friends. When they clear out, Chase invites her to see the fire tower with him, north of town. She gives a shell necklace to him. He wants to visit her cabin. Chase was her first visitor there since Tate. With Chase, she felt exposed, as if someone were filleting her like a fish. Shame welled up inside. Kya is something Chase had not planned on being interested in.


25. A Visit from Patti Love (1969)

Patty Love is Chase Andrews mother. She noticed that the seashell necklace Kya gave to Chase was not in his personal effects. He wore it all the time. The Sheriff tries to question Kya but she is never home.


26. The Boat Ashore (1965)

Chase was spending more time with Kya. While he was fascinated by her, he did not think much of her interest in the minutiae of the marsh. She might laugh at something which he said, but felt like she was Giving away another piece of herself just to have someone else. In some ways isn’t that how a relationship is? He gives away a little so that you can get a little. Maybe in this way you become bigger than yourself?


Tate had not forgotten Kya. . He still couldn’t explain to himself why he’d never gone back to her before now. Mostly he’d been a coward, ashamed. He was on the verge of getting his doctorate. Also being hired onto a research facility just up the coast. So he could be with her.


Kya read an article about how males will do anything for sex. Chase seems to be doing everything so he can have sex with her. He was keeping his Kya world separate from his town world.


27. Out Hog Mountain Road (1966)

Chase talks about marriage to her. He needs to go to Asherville overnight and take Kya there. There he has sex with her. When they get back, it is almost Christmas. But he makes excuses on why she cannot be with him.


Tate wants to talk with her. But she does not want to and attacks him. He says that Chase goes out with other women.


Tate sees her collection and convinces her to see if someone will publish it.


28. The Shrimper (1969)

Someone thinks they saw Kya in a boat going towards the fire tower on the night Chase died.


29. Seaweed(1967)

Kya goes into town, finds Chase with a girl. She buys a paper and finds that Chase will be marrying the girl.


30. The Rips (1967)

Angry at Chase, she goes out into the ocean with her boat. But then gets caught in a strong riptide. A metaphor for what she is feeling. It carries her out. She knew it wasn’t Chase she mourned, but a life defined by rejections. She finds a sandbar to land on. She found rare shells that had been washed to the bar. Then figured out how to get back to land.


31. A Book (1968 Kya is 22)

Kya’s book has been published and she gets her first check. I wonder where she cashed it? She fixed up the place. She talks about not having bills. But with running water and electricity, won’t she have that now? She heard there were developers coming in. She found out she owned her land, paid off the back taxes and now had the deed free and clear.


32. Alibi (1969)

Kya’s alibi for the night Andrews died was she was away at Greenville, NC meeting with her publisher. Plenty of people can verify that she got on the bus and back off of it. But checking the bus schedule, it looked like she could sneak in late at night and leave on an early morning bus.


Since we do not know where the mythical town of Barkley Cove, NC is, I am assuming it is on the south coast of NC between Jacksonville and Wilminton. This is currently a three hour bus trip. Wonder how long it would have been in 1969. Later on in chp 43 Tate says the ride is an hours and twenty minutes. Seems like the closest town to Greenville, NC and the coast is currently an 1 hour and 30 minute drive, let alone a bus which makes stops.


33. The Scar (1968)

Jodie comes back from a stint in the military. Jodie felt guilt for leaving Kya with their Pa. But Kya did not look at it that way, it was survival. Jodie brings the news that their mother died in 1966 after going insane. Jodie brought back paintings their mother had made. Somehow Ma’s mind had pulled beauty from lunacy.


Another reference to where the crawdads sing


Owens tells of a story where the seagull chicks have to have markings or the parents will not feed it. Even in nature, parenthood is a thinner line than one might think.


Kya has been hurt by men being unfaithful. She could never trust them. Jodie advocates that Tate might have changed for the seven years he was away.


34. Search the Shack(1969)

The Sheriff got a warrant to search Kya’s cabin. They found a red cap which matched the yarn found with Andrews.


35. The Compass(1969)

Kya’s second book has been published. Tate tries to re-establish relations again.


36. To Trap a Fox (1969)

Report shows the fibers match those found on Andrews. Things which indicate Kya killed Andrews: 1) Someone says they saw her row to the fire lookout that night; 2) Andrews shell necklace missing-Kya made it; 3) FFibers match jacket on Andrews, 4) Woman has been wronged; 5) Her alibi can be refuted. 6) Someone comes in and talks about motive.


37. Gray Sharks (1969)

Kya is arrested.


38. Sunday Justice (1970)

Two months after arrest, Kya is on trial. Tom Milton, a retired attorney is her lawyer. Jury selection. Sunday Justice is the jail cat.


39. Chase by Chance (1969)

Kya is out drawing a rare species of mushroom. Chase shows up and attacks her and tries to rape her. She fights back and escapes. A couple of fishermen saw this.


40. Cypress Cove (1970)

Informality between the judge and the prosecutor. Calls the man in the fishing boat as witness to motive.


41. A Small Herd(1969)

She got away and then to her reading cabin. Tate had fixed it up some to use for some of his expeditions. She comes to the realization what her mother went through. But Kya’s conclusion is that she would never live like her mother, she will not wait until the next time. She would not let her friends see her like this. SHe talks about the female praying mantis biting off the males head while having sex. Or the fireflies giving false signals to lure males to breed and die.


42. A Cell (1970)

Life in a jail cell.


43. A Microscope (1969)

She meets Tate on his research vessel. He shows her life under a microscope which she is in awe of. He thinks that She feels the pulse of life, he thought, because there are no layers between her and her planet.


Tate knows someone hit her and suspects it was Chase. He wonders if they are seeing each other. It is during this interaction which Tate gives her the red ski cap.


Chase tracks her down back to her cabin. But she sees him without him seeing her. She does not want to tell Tate what happened as she is too ashamed. Being isolated was one thing; living in fear, quite another


44. Cell Mate (1970)

In her jail cell, she would not see Tate. Standing in the most fragile place of her life, she turned to the only net she knew—herself


Tom Milton comes and talks about the various options, ie, plea bargaining.


Sunday Justice stays with Kya for a night.


Kya finally allows Tate to see her.


45. Red Cap (1970)

Tate, Jumpin and Mabel attend the trail, giving Kya strength. Coroner says Andrews died between midnight and 2am. Andrews probably fell backwards. He was missing the shell necklace. On his denim jacket there were red fibers matching a cap Kya had. Coroner states there is nothing indicating this was a murder. The fibers could have been on the jacket before that night as well.




46. King of the World (1969)

Kya decided to go to Greenville. She is unnerved by the thought of meeting so many people;. Kya tells Jumpin what Chase has done. She is concerned that Jumpin will tell the Sheriff and what would happen: They’d drag me into the sheriff’s office and make me describe what happened to a bunch of men. I can’t live through that.


47. The Expert (1970)

The Sheriff testifies being on expert witness on tracks. The defense lawyer points out that there was no footprints, nor evidence that they had been covered up. Also no fingerprints nor hair from Kya. The Sheriff had written to the Forest Service about how dangerous the open grates were at the lookout.


48. A Trip (1969)

Kya takes the bus to Greenville. Lots of people notice her. When she returns she goes back to her cabin. Next day she goes to Jumpin’s place to let him know she has returned. Jumpin tells her that Chase was killed. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. Owens leaves it at this. But this seems like she has a thought about what should be her, but does not let the characters complete the thought. Either do something with it, or do not put it in there. Even something like they looked into each other’s eyes and wondered.


Everytime there is a crisis, Kya whispers or thinks or says an Amanda Hamilton verse.


49. Disguises (1970)

Bus driver for the Trailways bus is a witness. Nobody who looked like Kya was on the bus. It is possible to go make the trip from Greenville and back on the same night. There was a young man about Kya size on the 11:50pm bus into Barkley Cove. (OK I see this now.11:50pm is when it leaves Greenville, not when it arrives at Barkley). Also the bus was late getting in. The book says 25 minutes late, but printed as 1:40.


The return bus driver saw a tall older lady on the 2:30am bus.


50. The Journal (1970)

Not only was Tate, Jumpin and Mabel in the audience the next day, but her brother Jodie was. The journal Kya gave to Chase was shown as evidence of her relationship with Chase. When she had given it to him, her heart pounded at the joy of giving. There is joy in giving.


51. Waning Moon (1970)

Dominance hierarchies enhance stability in natural populations, and some less natural

The fishing boat person identifies Kya going towards the fire lookout at 1:45am.

52. Three Mountains Motel (1970)

Witnesses stated that Kya got on the bus going to Greenville and got off when she was scheduled to. Night clerk testifies that he let her into the motel room. Also she dined out until after 10pm the night of the death. Prosecutors show that she could have left her room again when he got busy. Kya’s editors confirm that he met with her the day of and after the death. The day after he picks her up at 7:30am.


Tom Milton lays out a timeline which makes it impossible for Kya to go to the fire tower, kill Andrews and return back in time to catch the next bus.


53. Missing Link (1970)

Last defense witness-skipper of the fishing boat where the other two confirmed they say Kya. But he said it is too dark to determine who was in the boat and if the boat belonged to Kya.


And then the closing arguments. Prosecution's case is that the facts fit into Kya doing the killing of Andrews. Defense has it that she has been wronged all her life. Do not do wrong now. But she was out of town when it happened. There is no physical evidence which says she was in town that night, let alone was in the fire tower.


In my mind, the key thing is that there just was not enough time to get to the fire tower, kill Andrews and get back to the bus. Even if there was enough time, everything would need to work perfectly for her to accomplish the deed.


What is interesting to me is that there would be no moral inhibitions for her to kill Andrews as it is the laws of survival is how she operates.


54. Vice Versa (1970)

Waiting for the verdict. After debating for most of the day, a Not Guilty verdict came in.


55. Grass Flowers (1970)

Home, out of jail cell. Post trauma emotions. Another Hamilton poem.The Sheriff comes to the lagoon in a high powered boat. They talk with Tate and take him in.


56. The Night Heron (1970)

The Sheriff had gone to find Tate because his father had died. Talks about how much Tate missed him and remembered about him. He felt guilt for not spending time lately with his father. But was remembered what his father taught him: cry freely, feel poetry and opera, and defend a woman. Kya finally expresses her love for him.


57. The Firefly

They never formally married, but in their eyes they were married. As the years wore on, Kya lost some of the bite and hardness, but never went into town. Some semblance of life returned with Jodie playing a bigger part in it. Talks about how things changed as the years went on.


Kya at the age of 62 died peacefully. Tate is looking for the will and birth certificate-found none. But came across a secret compartment where he discovered that Kya was Amanda Hamilton. Also a poem called The Firefly which describes the luring of a victim. Kya’s secret is safe with Tate.



Evaluation:

I am not sure which Delia Owens meant for this book to be primarily: an ode to nature, the tale of resilience of a female from youth to young womanhood or a mystery. She partially succeeds in all three, especially the resilience of Kya.


Owens is well trained to bring us the wonders of nature and she does well with describing interesting facts of wildlife into her story. Sometimes I was wondering if it cluttered up the story, but it was mostly woven in well.


The protagonist is a young girl with an abusive father. Each of her family leaves one by one-even her mother. Finally the father does as well. By the age of seven she is left on her own in the marsh to fend for herself. She learns self-reliance and survives. She meets a friend who teaches her how to read. It turns out she is talented and intelligent.


Lastly as a mystery is where Owens falters. While there is some set up, the author depends a bit too much that everything works out exactly right for the murderer. As such, even the jury feels that there are no factual clues which lead to the “who done it”. Owens does leave hints of what will happen in her various descriptions of nature, so you guess early on what will happen and who commits the crime.


All in all, it is not a bad read. If you have a day of enjoyable reading, this is as good of a book as any to read.


 
Notes from my book group:

freshwatercrawdads soundcrustaceans resembling small lobsters (to which they are related). In some parts of the United States, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs, or yabbies. From Wikipedia


What is the difference between a marsh and a swamp? How about the people who reside in each? See Reconnect with Nature.


How does this story work?

Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?

Would you recommend this book? To whom?

Is there any particular thought which the author wants us to understand after reading this book?


What parts of the story seemed unbelievable to you? Why? How could Owens have made it more believable? Did any of these unbelievable parts make the story less enjoyable to you? In what kinds of books can you suspend the need for things to be believable to enjoy it? (Adapted from Sally Flint’s question) How realistic is Kya’s upbringing in the marsh? Do you believe she really could have made it out there on her own? [As a seven year old] (From Book Riot’s 2nd question)


Where Kya lived is for outsiders. Is there a community of people in Kya’s story? Why not? How does being an outsider affect Kya’s outlook on people? Would she have been more cautious or less around Chase?


Why do the people in Kya’s life leave? Are they justified? How does Kya react? Would she have understood better about people if she was not alone? Who comes back? How does Kya react to them? Who stayed in Kya’s life? How did Kya react to them?


Jumpin’ and Mabel look after her, even though they are black and Kya is white? Why do you think Owens wrote the story this way? Do you think this is representative?


Does Kya’s lack of schooling hold her back? Would it hold back somebody with less intelligence? Do you think she could have attained more if she had schooling?


One of the things which Owens talks about is human failings. Which person's or persons’ failings did you recoil from? Which one did you feel sympathy with? How did these failures work to make the story? Did Kya expect perfection in her relationships? What happened when they failed? How did Kya fail?


Kya learned from nature-both from observations and from books. What lessons did she apply to her life? If Kya was an animal, what animal from the book would she have been?


When Tate’s father recites poetry to Tate, what did you think about him saying Don’t go thinking poetry’s just for sissies. There’s mushy love poems, for sure, but there’s also funny ones, lots about nature, war even. Whole point of it—they make ya feel something.” How does poetry influence how this story is told? What did you think about Kya (or Owens) being the author of much of the poetry in the book?


Kya was put on trial for Chase’s death. How strong was the case against her? Would you have convicted her? Why couldn’t the prosecution put on a stronger case? If she killed Chase Andrews, why didn’t she accept a plea bargain?


Before the last chapter, who did you think killed Chase Andrews? When did you figure out who killed Chase Andrews and how it was done? What provoked Kya to kill Chase Andrews? Was she justified?


In London, there was a club of writers of mystery novels called “The Detection Club.” They laid out ten rules for their members to make sure their writers were fair to their readers. Do you think Owens’ ending was fair to the reader? How would you have made it a fair ending?


In the end of the novel, Kya thinks “Most of what she knew, she’d learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would. If consequences resulted from her behaving differently, then they too were functions of life’s fundamental core” (p. 363). What does she mean? Do you agree with her philosophy? What do you think it means to be a good person? Do you think Kya is a good person? Why or why not? (12 from Owen’s questions)


Is there beauty in Delia Owens’ writing? Give examples.


Several years ago her former husband Mark was accused of killing a poacher, operating with a shoot to kill with poachers. She and her ex are still wanted for questioning by the Zambian police. Does that make a difference in how you view this book? Does an author’s history matter when you think about a book?


How do you want your life to change because you read this book?


In Sally Flint’s question, she asks to compare Where the Crawdads Sing with Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. What comparisons do you see? Why do you think FLiint sees there are some comparisons?


After reading this book, would you go out on a date with Delia Owens?



Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.

Why the title of Where the Crawdads Sing?

Which character was the most convincing? Least?

Which character did you identify with?

Which one did you dislike?

Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?

In what context was religion talked about in this book?

Was there anybody you would consider religious?

How did they show it?

Was the book overtly religious?

How did it affect the book's story?

Why do you think the author wrote this book?

What would you ask the author if you had a chance?

What “takeaways” did you have from this book?

What central ideas does the author present?

Are they personal, sociological, global, political, economic, spiritual, medical, or scientific

What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?

Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?

Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?

What implications for you, our nation or the world do these ideas have?

Are these idea’s controversial?

To whom and why?

Are there solutions which the author presents?

Do they seem workable? Practicable?

How would you implement them?

Describe the culture talked about in the book.

How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?

What economic or political situations are described?

Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?

How did this book affect your view of the world?

Of how God is viewed?

What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?

Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?

What was memorable?

Delia Owen’s discussion questions 

Arlene's Book Club Discussion Questions 

Reading Groups General Fiction Guide

Book Riot questions

Sally Flint’s Book and Family chat questions



New Words:
 

  • Palmettos (1. Ma): a fan palm, especially one of a number occurring from the southern US to northern South America.
  • Maroons (1. Ma): descendants of Africans in the Americas who formed settlements away from slavery. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos
  • Whipstitch (18. White Canoe): to sew with stitches passing over an edge, in joining, finishing, or gathering.

 Book References:

 
 Good Quotes:
  • First Line: Marsh is not swamp.
  • Last Line: Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing.
  • “I wadn’t aware that words could hold so much. I didn’t know a sentence could be so full.” Chp 16. Reading
  • Time ensures children never know their parents young. Chp 16. Reading
  • The words in poems do more than say things. They stir up emotions. Even make you laugh. Chp 17. Crossing the Threshold
  • once you can read anything you can learn everything. Chp 18. White Canoe 

 Table of Contents:

  • Map
  • PART 1 The Marsh
    • Prologue
    • 1. Ma
    • 2. Jodie
    • 3. Chase
    • 4. School
    • 5. Investigation
    • 6. A Boat and a Boy
    • 7. The Fishing Season
    • 8. Negative Data
    • 9. Jumpin’
    • 10. Just Grass in the Wind
    • 11. Croker Sacks Full
    • 12. Pennies and Grits
    • 13. Feathers
    • 14. Red Fibers
    • 15. The Game
    • 16. Reading
    • 17. Crossing the Threshold
    • 18. White Canoe
    • 19. Something Going On
    • 20. July 4
    • 21. Coop
  • PART 2 The Swamp
    • 22. Same Tide
    • 23. The Shel
    • l24. The Fire Tower
    • 25. A Visit from Patti Love
    • 26. The Boat Ashore
    • 27. Out Hog Mountain Road
    • 28. The Shrimper
    • 29. Seaweed
    • 30. The Rips
    • 31. A Book
    • 32. Alibi
    • 33. The Scar
    • 34. Search the Shack
    • 35. The Compass
    • 36. To Trap a Fox
    • 37. Gray Sharks
    • 38. Sunday Justice
    • 39. Chase by Chance
    • 40. Cypress Cove
    • 41. A Small Herd
    • 42. A Cell
    • 43. A Microscope
    • 44. Cell Mate
    • 45. Red Cap
    • 46. King of the World
    • 47. The Expert
    • 48. A Trip
    • 49. Disguises
    • 50. The Journal
    • 51. Waning Moon
    • 52. Three Mountains Motel
    • 53. Missing Link
    • 54. Vice Versa
    • 55. Grass Flowers
    • 56. The Night Heron
    • 57. The Firefly
  • Acknowledgments

References:
 


 
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