WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

Lush, dreamy and wild, the marshes of North Carolina are more than just the setting of this enchanting novel. They are the driving force that propels the story forward, its inhabitants pulsating with life, providing protection, solace, danger and even companionship to Kya, a child raising herself alone after she is abandoned by her family.

The Crawdads Sing is both romantic and suspenseful, with a love story and murder mystery woven beautifully through Kya’s empowering coming-of-age story. Through each chapter, we are transported to the natural world of the marshland, with its fascinating creatures, sounds and colors so gorgeously rendered, we feel we are sharing Kya’s journey along with her - right up to the book’s captivating conclusion.

There’s so much delicious Southern cooking in this book I hardly knew where to begin. But I kept coming back to blackberry cobbler, which showed up a few times in the story and sounded more delicious with each mention. This baking adventure taught me the difference between pie, cobbler, crisp and crumble - it was quite an education! And made me question why I always favor the sweeter berries, when the wild and less conventional blackberry has more texture, depth and fortitude. Sounds a little like Kya, no?