Last Updated on May 25, 2019

Resident Chilton Knudsen will review Where the Crawdads Sing [New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018], by Delia Owens on June 18, 2019 at 7 PM in the Auditorium.

A work of fiction, this might well be a semi-autobiographical account from someone (or someones) who personally experienced some specifics about the “Marsh Girl” who lived in the swamp, a resilient survivor of family abandonment. This book chronicles the life of Kya, the “Marsh Girl”, beginning with her mother’s flight from the family, extending through the disappearance of her father and siblings, and the acquiring of her survival skills as she faces life without external support mechanisms.

Kya is a plucky but vulnerable figure, central to this story. We come to admire and love her as she meets all manner of challenges in order to survive. Into her strange but stable existence is introduced a twist, having to do with the possible commission of a crime. You’ll have to come to the Book Review to learn more about this twist, and you’ll no doubt find yourselves in either the sympathetic or the critical category.

Three things are notable about the book:

1. It’s a great story of human resilience and perseverance.
2. The written word, the language, is exquisitely beautiful. Think Barbara Kingsolver or Annie Dillard. This writer loves God’s creation!
3. The backdrop of the natural world is a foundation for the entire story.

Please come and hear about one reader’s impressions. My hope is that my impressions will be folded into the comments of others.

~Chilton Knudsen~