Summaries. 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.

North Carolina 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.

At the start of the novel, Owens describes the marsh as “a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky” (3). This nurturing image inspires young Kya's sense of nature as a benevolent force, especially since it hides her from outsiders and serves as a source of food and shelter.

Is the plot of Where the Crawdads Sing true? 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.

Where the Crawdads Sing ended with Kya and Tate officially becoming a couple. They spent decades together in their little house in the marsh, studying various wildlife and taking samples. In the movie's final scenes, Kya (Leslie France) died of old age after hallucinating her mother one last time.

Lessons in Lonesomeness The marsh taught Kya everything she needed to know about life. “In spite of everything trying to stomp it out, life persists,” Kya shares. “Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing, the marsh knows one thing above all else. Every creature does what it must to survive.”

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.

1950s Abandoned by her family, Kya Clark, otherwise known to the townspeople of Barkley Cove as the Marsh Girl, is mysterious and wild. "Where the Crawdads Sing" is a coming-of-age story of a young girl raised by the marshlands of the south in the 1950s.

Portrayals of black people. Much like The Help, another best-selling novel about midcentury life in the South centered on a young white woman, Where the Crawdads Sing has been criticized for making its Black characters into stereotypes.

Based on the title of the book/movie, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a crawdad is a type of bird - but crawdad is another word for crayfish, a type of freshwater crustacean that looks like a miniaturized lobster.

Instead of viewing Kya as a person, he sees her as a rare possession that he's determined to have for himself. Throughout their relationship, Chase devolves further and further into his obsession with Kya, refusing to accept her rejection of him and determined to possess her in the manner of a collector.

Tate and Kya spend the night on the beach, and the next day Tate moves into the shack. Tate asks her to marry him, but she says they are already married like the geese. Kya never returns to town, even as the townspeople soften and believe in her innocence.