My latest addition to my SETTING TO SCENE blog thread is Delia Owens’ blockbuster hit, Where The Crawdads Sing. Set in North Carolina’s verdant coastal marshland, I fell in love with this coming-of-age story, which highlights the author’s extraordinary ability to drop a reader into the natural setting. Part mystery, part romance, part study of the natural world, Owens’ novel examines the plight of the outsider while exploring themes of isolation and conservation. The author honed her craft in nature writing during her decades spent working in Africa. Based on her experiences as a wildlife scientist, she co-authored three nonfiction books including the international bestseller, The Eye of the Elephant.
“The morning burned so August-hot, the marsh's moist breath hung the oaks and pines with fog. The palmetto patches stood unusually quiet except for the low, slow flap of the heron's wings lifting from the lagoon.”
“The shack sat back from the palmettos, which sprawled across sand flats to a necklace of green lagoons and, in the distance, all the marsh beyond. Miles of blade-grass so tough it grew in salt water, interrupted only by trees so bent they wore the shape of the wind.” Delia Owens, Where The Crawdads Sing