Where the Crawdads Sing ~ A Book Journey
Have you ever read a book so intense that you wanted more? Something about Crawdads sparked this need inside of me to explore for myself. It was just so beautifully written that I wanted more of Kya and the salt marsh. Sometimes books just aren’t enough for this nerdy girl. I had to see what Delia Owens so vividly wrote about. I packed my bags and went on my first Nerdy Gourmet adventure. Hence, book inspired travel and food became my passion.
Where the Crawdads Sing ~ Review and Book Journey
- Delia Owens
- Coming of Age, General Fiction, Mystery
- Berkley Cove, NC, 1960s
- Cassandra Campbell
Book Review
Where the Crawdads Sing
Where do I even start?? Delia Owens is an artist. Using simple everyday words, she lyrically creates one of the most beautiful masterpieces of our time. Crawdads is a coming of age novel, a romance, a mystery and a book of poetry all rolled into one graceful, compelling story of swamp girl Kya. Owens’ vivid imagery of nature immerses the reader into Kya’s world, where the earth is a living, breathing being to be explored and celebrated. I am not one to reread a book, or even to rewatch favorite movies, but I read this book three times. I was sad when it ended and thought about it for days. Owens inspired me to go out and find a real life Barkley Cove. I wanted to feel Kya’s story in person because I felt like I knew her and the salt marsh intimately. To see my pictures of the marsh and wildlife, click here. Read this book!
Audiobook Rating: 5/5 Cassandra Campbell has more than 700 audiobooks under her belt. Need I say more? Even if you have already physically read Crawdads, I highly recommend listening to it. Her performance of Kya’s spoken lines progresses and swells as Kya grows from an uneducated swamp girl to an exploring young woman. Campbell’s narration is fresh and engaging. She has a soothing, intimate way of reading without distracting from the story.
- Owens’ debut novel, written in 2018, has topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2019 for 58 non-consecutive weeks. (as of October 2019). Picked by Reese Witherspoon for her Reese’s Book Club, the novel is being made into a movie by Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production. The film adaptation is still in its early stages.
- Delia Owens’ mama told her to “go way out yonder where the crawdads sing” [sic] “because in the wild is where our secrets lie.” She went all the way to Africa.
- The 70-year-old’s rich past in the Savannah taught her many things about mammals and the animal instincts of humans.
Travel
After reading Kya’s story, I decided to travel to explore her world. I found marshes, beaches, delicious food and wonderful people! Click here for more details about my discoveries!!
Recipes
The comfort of Ma’s fluffy biscuits, the evolution of Kya’s grits, hunger and sweetness all play a pivotal role in Crawdads. Owens’ inclusion of food is meant to evoke emotions and connect us to the salt marsh world of southern food and home cooking.
Kya insisted on keeping the old wood stove, firewood piled next to it, because it heated the shack, but mostly because it had baked a thousand biscuits from her mother’s heart.
In the croker sack were two pint jars of real runny blackberry jam she’d made herself to return Jumpin’ and Mabel’s kindness.
Getting out leftovers, she said, “I’ll tump the grits in lard, warm ’em up,” which she did and ate from the pot, looking through the window for Pa. “I don’t know how to do life without grits.”
He scanned the sea for his dad’s shrimp boat, The Cherry Pie, and spotted its bright red paint far out, the wide net-wings rocking with the swells.
“Now we wait,” he’d said, as he poured hot tea from a thermos and offered her “coon balls,” a baked mixture of biscuit dough, hot sausage, and sharp cheddar cheese he had cooked for the occasion.
“I bought petite cakes from Parker’s.” Kya had not tasted anything like cake for years. He opened the box, and there, arranged neatly, were little cakes, each only an inch square, covered in vanilla icing with a tiny pink rose perched on top.
After conquering my fear of making grits, I wanted to make something bite sized and party friendly. While making chicken tenders for the kids one night it hit me- why couldn’t I bread and bake grits? So tada! Crunchy, cheesy, bacon-y grits in a bite. Of course, you could make these without bacon, but in my humble opinion, bacon makes everything better……
A little lost after Crawdads?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca is a fantastic follow up. Both stories are laden with deep layers of descriptive imagery. Owens echoes du Maurier’s love of nature, poetry and romance chased by mystery. It’s no wonder she mentions Rebecca in Crawdads. The authors breathe life into the worlds of nature that surround the characters making the settings dance with vibrancy.
Did you enjoy this page? please comment below to let me know you were here! thanks friend!
jenni
2 Comments
Jillian
Awesome recipes!! Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to incorporating these into my book club event!!
nerdygourmet
Thank you! I had fun putting them together with the book 😁💗