Where the Crawdads Sing Summary, it is a 2018 coming-of-age murder mystery novel by American zoologist Delia Owens. The story follows two timelines that slowly intertwine.
The first timeline describes the life and adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina. The second timeline follows an investigation into the apparent murder of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity of Barkley Cove, a fictional coastal town of North Carolina.
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| Where the Crawdads Sing Summary |
Where the Crawdads Sing Summary
Kya's story begins when she lives in a shack with her poor family in a North Carolina marsh in 1953. As their abusive alcoholic father gambles their money away, Kya's mother and older siblings flee one by one, leaving Kya alone with him until he too abandons her at the age of seven. She survives by selling mussels at Barkley Cove's general store. The townspeople know her as the "Marsh Girl".
Over the years, her slightly older friend Tate Walker lends her books and teaches her to read, write, and count. They share an interest in nature and begin a romantic relationship until Tate leaves for college and breaks his promise to return to her on the 4th of July.
In 1968, Kya begins a relationship with popular local quarterback Chase Andrews, who promises her marriage. Chase gives Kya a small shell which she makes into a necklace and gives to him. A year later, Tate returns to Barkley Cove wanting to rekindle their romance, but Kya is unsure. Kya ends her relationship with Chase when she discovers he is already engaged to another girl.
Kya has her nature drawings and writings published and the income helps her keep her home. Her older brother Jodie reappears and tells her their mother died before she was able to reunite her children. Jodie promises to visit when he can.
Kya rebuffs Chase's persistent attentions and successfully fights off his rape attempt, vowing to kill him if he does not leave her alone. The threat is overheard by a fisherman. Chase returns and vandalizes Kya's home while she hides in the bushes. Days later, Chase is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower from which he had apparently fallen. The muddy bog floods at high tide, destroying any tracks from the killer, and no fingerprints are found in the tower. The shell necklace, which he had been wearing on the evening of his death, is missing from his body. Kya is charged with first-degree murder and prejudged by the suspicious townspeople.
Despite knowing Kya had been meeting with a book publisher in Greenville at the time, the police and the prosecutor speculate she could have disguised herself and made an overnight round-trip bus ride to Barkley Cove, lured Chase to the fire tower during the brief layover and killed him. With only the unfounded theory, the missing necklace, and the fisherman's testimony, Kya is found not guilty at her 1969 trial.
Kya and Tate spend the rest of their lives together. Kya publishes illustrated nature books, and is frequently visited by Jodie and his family. While boating through the swamp in her 70s, she imagines seeing her mother returning to the cabin. Tate finds Kya lying dead in the boat at their dock. Boxing up Kya's things, Tate finds a passage in her journal saying that to protect the prey, sometimes the predator has to be killed. It is accompanied by a drawing of Chase. Next he finds the missing shell necklace. Tate throws the necklace into the marsh water.
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Questions about Where the Crawdads Sing Plot
What is the story of Where the Crawdads Sing about? A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved. Abandoned by her family, Kya Clark, otherwise known to the townspeople of Barkley Cove as the Marsh Girl, is mysterious and wild.
What is the message of Where the Crawdads Sing? The Where the Crawdads Sing themes cover ideas like survival, human connection, education, and prejudice. As a girl who grows up without parents or a formal education, main character Kya manages to create a live lived on her own terms.
Was the girl the killer in Where the Crawdads Sing? It is revealed through a poem titled 'The Firefly' that Kya was in fact the one to kill Chase. Certain lines in the poem reveal that Kya lured Chase to the tower where he then was pushed off and fell to his death. 'Luring him was as easy,' reads the first line in the poem.
Is Crawdads Sing Based on a true story? No, Where the Crawdads Sing is based on Delia Owens' 2018 novel of the same name. The plot and characters are not based on real people or events.
Why is Where the Crawdads Sing so popular? Although she tries to conform to the norms around her, Kya learns that it's her identity to live life freely. As the nature that raised and provided for Kya had made her into one of their own. What made Where the Crawdads Sings so popular was the main character Kya was able to resonate with audiences.
How did Kya get chase to the fire tower? In roughly an hour, Kya lured Chase out of him home, convinced him to go with her to the fire tower, caused him to fall to his death, and cleaned up the evidence. The book reveals that Kya specifically made sure that Chase would die during low tide, ensuring that the rising waters would wash away their footprints.
Did Kya and Chase have kids? Kya and Tate are unable to have children. Kya's connections are to Tate and the natural world. At the age of 64, Kya has a heart attack in her boat and dies.
Did Tate know Kya killed Chase? It isn't until after her death that the Where the Crawdads Sing character Tate Walker — because she left the seashell necklace behind in a book — realizes Kya really did kill Chase Andrews.
Did Tate really love Kya? Still Tate breaks Kya's heart when he fails to return to see her after he goes off to college, and Smith says that was a misguided mistake. “When he looks at Kya, he's in love with her, but he wants to know what else is out there for him in the world,” Smith said.