It's about a young woman named Kya, who's left to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina when her family abandons her at a young age. There is so much to her story: romance, mystery, and a murder… and it takes place in the breathtaking backdrop of the South.

Is Where the Crawdads Sing based on a true story?

While there are several nods to Delia's own life in her novel, it's unlikely that Where the Crawdads Sing is based on a true story. However, Delia and her husband were connected to a real-life murder in 1995, where they were the primary suspects in the shooting of an alleged poacher in Zambia.

What is the author's purpose in Where the Crawdads Sing?

I became determined to write a novel that would explore how much we can learn about human nature from nature itself. I felt that I could accomplish this by writing a story of a young girl, who was mostly isolated from other people, so she had to survive on her natural instincts and the justice of nature.