by Delia Owens
Listened to April 2020. Recommended by a friend.
This book reminded me of a cross between Educated by Tara Westover and a Gillian Flynn novel. In the marsh of North Carolina, a young girl is slowly abandoned by every member of her family until she ends up living alone in a dilapidated cabin. Overcoming the obstacles of poverty, discrimination and loneliness, Kya learns how to fend for herself while developing a deep connection to the marsh in which she lives. Despite lack of formal schooling and with minimal exposure to society, she becomes an expert naturalist with an animalistic survival instinct. This well-written, easy read takes the reader through Kya’s development from abandoned child to mature woman all wrapped up in a murder mystery. Like many of us, Kya struggles to decide what she wants out of life, love and career. Her unique childhood brings an interesting perspective to the few personal relationships she develops in the course of her life. She therefore sees people’s behavior at its most basic, instinctual level and maybe tells us a little more about what it means to be human.