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Where the Crawdads Sing  By  cover art

Where the Crawdads Sing

By: Delia Owens
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENON—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!

More than 18 million copies sold worldwide

A Reese’s Book Club Pick

A Business Insider Defining Book of the Decade

“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.

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.

©2018 Delia Owens (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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.”—The New York Times Book Review

“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

“This lush mystery is perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver.”—Bustle

Featured Article: Where the Crawdads Sing Explainer


Whether you're looking to learn more about the book before diving in, refresh your memory from your initial reading or listening experience, or you're simply curious about the beloved best seller, we've got everything you need to know about Where the Crawdads Sing in this explainer. Among its features are a coming-of-age tale, lyrical nature writing, romance, and even a murder mystery—so safe to say, there’s something for everyone in this unforgettable gem. Read on to find a plot summary, a guide to the main characters, information on the audiobook and upcoming movie, and more.

What listeners say about Where the Crawdads Sing

Average customer ratings
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
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    246,939
  • 4 Stars
    35,398
  • 3 Stars
    8,214
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  • 3 Stars
    7,648
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    2,278
  • 1 Stars
    1,563

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Don't listen to the negative reviews.

First off, I'm a 29 year old low key nerdy male who watches NBA, NFL, shoots guns, plays basketball, races turbo cars and crotch rockets and loves zombie stuff and horror.

This is the first book like this I have read since high school. I hate anything romance, this is a subtle romance book.

All the reviews were what led me to this and they did not disappoint. Anyone who has anything negative to say is probably too close minded to accept the sheer brilliance and beauty of this book. The narrator and her accents add so much to the story.

The way the author depicts the south makes you feel like you had grown up there and everything is spot on. I guess I could see why someone wouldn't particularly love this but I would just assume they weren't intellectual or philosophical enough to appreciate it, Anyone who likes to step outside their comfort zone and see things from another perspective will like this.

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1,219 people found this helpful

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Wonderful

This was a wonderful Audible book to listen too. Set in the 1950's, it's a tale of a young girl who is abandoned and rejected not only by her family but also by the towns people. She is known as the Marsh girl, left to fend for herself at the age of ten. She is befriended and loved by some but mostly talked about by the towns people as that Marsh trash.
Those who have befriended, cared for and loved her along the path of her loneliness and growing up, see the value and worth of her hard won self taught skills. It was a moving story that will be read and reread in my lifetime.

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897 people found this helpful

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Felt like I was there...

...in the lagoons and marshes of South Carolina. After a long spell of so-so books laced with gratuitous obscenities and graphic sex, this was a breath of fresh salt air beautifully written. I will not soon forget Kya’s unique story with its painful beauty. The Deep South setting was vibrantly enhanced by the narrator’s rendition of southern country accents and voices of many characters, both male and female. Highly recommended!

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553 people found this helpful

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Took my Breath Away

All I can think is "To Kill a Mockingbird". This kept me intrigued until the very last page! If you love nature, you will love this book. If you love mystery, you will love this book. If you love romance, you will love this book.

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480 people found this helpful

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Not my usual style

I usually go for a thriller, however after reading the reviews on this book I thought I’d give it a shot. So happy I did! It is so beautifully written and the narration was very enjoyable! Please give this book a chance!

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478 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Not sure how this book has such high ratings

I was so bored listening to this book to the point of almost not finishing it. I also had a very hard time with the narrator's voices she chose for the characters. I found it very distracting and really couldn't stand Kya's voice.

There was way too much dialogue, slow moving storyline, uninteresting characters, and anticlimactic twist at the end. I know I'm in the minority here, but I just couldn't get into it.

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390 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't love this!

I was all set to love this book. Living in North Carolina and being an admirer of the coastal natural environment, I thought this book would be just my thing. I see that most other reviewers loved it. But I found this book to be heavy on cliche and shallow stereotyped characters, and just couldn't buy the motivations of some of the characters in certain parts of the book. Why did the supposedly caring mother leave all her children with someone she knew to be abusive--and never contact the children again? Why was Kia "walking like a duck" when Tate spied on her? Huh? I just couldn't buy the wealthy (and predictably also arrogant and violent) man's interest in Kia either. It just did not follow. I couldn't buy the idea that someone who had never been more than a few miles from home could write a guild to seashells of the east coast. The cringe-worthy depiction of the black mammy could not have been more stereotypical--it was painful to read. She says "Lawd" all the time and calls Kia "Chile." Many characters were constantly saying "I reckon...."

The best writing in this book happened when the author was writing about nature. The writing there is honest, compelling, clear, and sometimes poetic. Wow! This person CAN write. And maybe will improve with experience? I hope so. Even though I didn't love this book, I wish I could go bird watching with the author down on the NC coast.

The other thing that I didn't like was the narration; it might be just me, but Kia's weird baby voice and Beverly Hillbillies accent grated on my nerves from the start. Probably it would be better in print.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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I KNEW from the title that this book wasn't for me

...but I wasted a credit on it anyway because it was a choice for Reese Witherspoon's book club and the preponderance of 5-star ratings, which I just don't understand. The premise strains belief; Kya's family abandons her as a child - her father, mother, older sisters and older brother leave her to her own devices in a decrepit shack in the marsh. But somehow, without help, she manages. Her relationship with Chase also doesn't ring true, but that's a necessary part of the story. The writing is pat and cliched.
The narration of dialog was awful - very exaggerated and I would say lower class speech, even for the judge and lawyers, who would have been educated and speak with a more scholarly dialect, but the narrator doesn't seem to know the difference. She must not be from these parts or she would know better. Her delivery of the narrative parts of the book was fine and unaccented. Kya's voice never develops any grown-up confidence, even after she becomes a mostly self-educated author of scientific books and and an authority on marsh wildlife; it remains shy and child-like.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Not worth the hipe.

Struggle to finish. Narrator had fake southern accent that was annoying.
Story was not interesting.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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This book drove me nuts

I'm pretty sure this author has never been to North Carolina. It's set on the NC coast and mentions Asheville about a dozen times. Asheville is in the mountains, about an 8-hour drive from the coast. No one would "run to Asheville" from there to buy supplies or a bicycle or a suit. It's just ludicrous. And with all those mentions of a far away mountain town, the Outer Banks are never mentioned at all! Has she even looked at a map of NC? I don't know why the author didn't choose to set this story in her home state of Georgia, where there are also marshes, and where she'd presumably know the geography. I finished this, but it was a struggle. The story was ridiculous in so many ways, and the characters weren't believable. Maybe if I didn't live in NC and wasn't aware of the glaring geographical absurdities, I could overlook some of the book's other faults, but it was just too much for me. The narration annoyed me, too. The breathy, childlike voice she chose for Kya was grating, as was her over-enunciated sing-song performance. I know she's a favorite of many, but I'm not a fan.

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249 people found this helpful