Là où chantent les écrevisses

(Contains minor spoilers) I recently read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. In fact, I did a timeline and structure analysis as part of my masters course so I'll share a few thoughts here. I won't get into the controversy surrounding the book and I haven't seen the film (yet) so I'll just be focussing on writer's craft.

The novel alternates between the earlier story of Kya’s childhood and growing up (1952-1969) and the later events (1969-1970) around the murder of Chase Andrews and the investigation and trial. It jump backwards and forwards in time but it’s easy to follow. There’s a map right at the start, which I like, and a prologue. It’s divided into parts: Part 1 The Marsh, Part 2 The Swamp. I feel like there ought to be a Part 3 around the start of the court scenes, but there isn’t. There are 57 chapters which are sometimes fairly short but that's ok, I like short chapters. Each one is split into sections. Sometimes I felt that there was a bit of a hotch potch of material in the same chapter. I’m not clear on Owen’s reasoning for what she includes in each chapter, particularly as some are so short. They can feel overloaded with random things and varying viewpoints.

The story is mainly told from Kya’s point of view (POV) with free indirect style but there are also sections in which the POV changes . Some sections, particularly those with the Sheriff, are told in omniscient narrative. They sometimes occur within the same chapters as Kya’s free indirect style. One section is told from Jumpin's POV and some are from Tate's POV. Personally I think switches in POV should be clearly delineated within a separate chapter. There are gaps of three or four years in Kya’s timeline, not surprisingly as the story starts when she’s four years old. As each chapter's heading includes the date, it's pretty clear when and where the characters are. At the end of the book there’s a huge gap where the final chapter jumps to what happens in Kya’s later life. The main narrative strands are 1) Kya’s childhood, and how she survives alone in the Marsh. Her growth to sexuality maturity and relationships with Tate and Chase. 2) The murder investigation and the court scenes. They could also be viewed as one strand but because of the way the novel is structured they are experienced as two separate strands.

I'm not as clear when identifying subplots but here are some contenders: • Kya’s progress from illiterate to published author and artist. • Kya’s creative writing. • Tate’s life, academic success and relationship with Kya. • Not really a plot but the novel includes a strong theme of exclusion, isolation and ostracization. • The Marsh and sea and Kya’s intense relationship with them. The environment is so vivid, it’s more than just a setting. It’s personifed as it swallows up all the evidence of the murder, like it’s protecting the perpetrator (p140). In one scene, the sea is personified as Kya's lover (p152). There is also a scene (in chapter 30) where, heartbroken, she sails recklessly towards the rip tides and into the danger of the sea. I like the way Owens has released clues to the reader by highlighting evidence discovered in the murder investigation and then has gone back in time so the reader sees one of the characters handling that piece of evidence. It's nicely put together.

I enjoyed the book but I wouldn't compare it to To Kill a Mockingbird. Although it's part of the plot, I didn't like the intrusion of the poems. I thought there were too many and Kya's sudden reciting of poems felt stilted.

The story certainly lingered in my mind long after I'd read the final page. I think this is due to the richness of the description of the Marsh and its creatures. In fact, when the story shifts to the court scenes I felt disappointed like I wanted to go back to the Marsh. Obviously Kya did too, but should the reader feel like that as well?