V Read—Where the Crawdads Sing

Oh, this book! This brilliant coming of age story is so evocatively written that you could cry with joy. A tale of a marsh girl, an immersive lesson in nature, and a murder mystery thrown in on top - and you have what we all feel is almost literary perfection. Set in North Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s, Owens masterfully intertwines two timelines and draws you into the solitary world of Kya Clark—“the marsh girl”—and her slow integration into society.

The book touches on racial tensions, it’s a lesson in social anthropology, it’s a crime story and it’s a love story.  With every detail so vividly imagined, this debut novel by Delia Owens is original and unputdownable. It’s not what we expected and all we wanted it to be. Lock your door, turn off your phones and don’t come out until you’ve finished. Basically, this book is everything.