Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Olsen
J.P. Putnam's Sons, 2018, Fiction, 379 p.

Kya is the youngest of a large family in the marsh lands of North Carolina.  Even though she has a loving mother and siblings, her father is abusive.  In the face of his violence the members of her family leave, one by one, until only Kya and her father are left.  Then he leaves and Kya, age 10, is left to fend for herself.  She learns to survive on her own, leery of establishing relationships because of fear of further abandonment.  Then Tate enters her life, teaches her to read, and opens for her the world of science and love.  Years later the body of a local hotshot is found on the ground below a fire watch tower.  Kya becomes the prime suspect in the murder investigation.  Can Tate, and the others who have come to know Kya, overcome the town's prejudice against the "Marsh Girl?"

Here is another book that has been on the top of the reading charts for months. It is an atmospheric murder mystery/romance with a lot of lush detail and a twisting plot.  Most of all it is a"coming of age" novel that tells how Kya learns to stop being a victim and take control of her own destiny. 

(Readers should be aware that this book contains images of physical and sexual abuse that might be offensive to some.)