Description: This novel is so widely reviewed, and loved, that I waited to read it. Such a great read. Highly recommended.
This is the story of Kya Clark, who is a poor white girl growing up in the marshlands near a little town called Barkley Cove, North Carolina. The story is set over 20 years from the 1950s to 1970s. Kya’s mother flees after years of abuse, leaving Kya, at the age of 7, to fend for herself. Soon after her brother leaves, then her father. But Kya remains and makes it work. She’s a scavenger, a fighter, a poet, and a keen observer of the marsh and the wildlife around her.
Kya learns to read, with the help of a friend of her brother. She figures out how to earn a living, with the help of Jumpin’, who runs the marine gas station. And she manages just fine, thank you very much, until she’s accused of murdering the town’s prized quarterback Chase Andrews.
Favourite moment: There are many beautiful descriptions of the marsh, its shells and grasses, the birds and animals. Kya’s love of nature is what connects her to Tate, who comes to teach her to read. There is a game of cat and mouse, which captures that excitement of a first crush.
In the center of the clearing was a rotted-down stump, so carpeted in moss it looked like an old man hiding under a cape. Kya approached it, then stopped. Lodged in the stump and sticking straight up was a thin black feather about five or six inches long. To most it would have looked ordinary, maybe a crow’s wing feather. But she knew it was extraordinary for it was the ‘eyebrow’ of a great blue heron, the feather that bows gracefully above the eye, extending back beyond her elegant head. One of the most exquisite fragments of the coastal marsh, right here. She had never found one but knew instantly what it was, having squatted eye to eye with herons all her life.
Chapter 13, feathers
The next day Kya rushes back to the stump to see if another feather is left. She starts leaving small gifts too. It’s electric. And then Tate appears and Kya is rather disappointed that the game is over. It’s young love and so touch-and-go. She’s like a fawn ready to sprint but Tate is kind and has good intentions. Thankfully, because the town kids are real arses.
There is great rhythm to the writing. I sped through this book. If you’re not one to read the award-winnings, it’s ok to give this one a try. It’s worthy of the praise.