“Marsh is not a swamp. Marsh is a light space where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. Slow moving creeks wander, carrying the sun’s orb to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace- as though not built to fly- against the roar of a thousand snow geese.”
Delia Owens continues telling us, “On the morning of October 30, 1969, the body of Chase Andrews lay in the swamp” We eventually learn what happened, and we learn about Kya Clark, the Marsh Girl.
Kya has been the subject of rumors for years in the small town of Barkley Cove on the North Carolina coast. She has survived for years alone in the marsh that is her home. Her friends are the birds, and she knows the swamp better than anyone.
Two young men from town are intrigued by her, touch her life, and she opens herself up to being touched by love. Kya’s life feels us, and the story brings a melody and feeling that helps us fold into the account ourselves.
Both a murder mystery and a coming-of-age story show us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were. A book that we won’t forget.
Quotes
“Autumn leaves don't fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”
“His dad had told him many times that the definition of a real man cries without shame, reads poetry with his heart, feels opera in his soul, and does what’s necessary to defend a woman.”
“Why should the injured, the still bleeding, bear the onus of forgiveness?”
“Sometimes she heard night sounds she didn’t know or jumped from lightning too close, but whenever she stumbled, it was the land who caught her. At last, the heart pain seeped away like water into the sand at some unclaimed moment. Still there, but deep. Kya laid her hand upon the breathing, wet earth, and the marsh became her mother.”
“Unworthy boys make a lot of noise.”
“a lot of times, love doesn’t work out. Yet even when it fails, it connects you to others and, in the end, that is all you have, the connections.”
