Study Guide for Book Clubs: Where the Crawdads Sing: Study Guides for Book Clubs, #39

By Kathryn Cope

An essential tool for all reading groups, this guide provides a detailed analysis of Delia Owens's bestselling novel, Where the Crawdads Sing. Covering a wealth of information it includes thirty thought-provoking discussion questions; a detailed plot summary; useful literary context; an author biography; themes & imagery; character breakdowns; recommended further reading and even a quick quiz.

Guaranteed to spark productive discussion, this companion guide takes the hard work out of preparing for your book group meeting. For solo readers, it provides a deeper examination of a rich and rewarding text.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Cope
• Release date: Jul 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393557586

Kathryn Cope

Kathryn Cope graduated in English Literature from Manchester University and obtained her master’s degree in contemporary fiction from the University of York. She is the author of Study Guides for Book Clubs and the HarperCollins Offical Book Club Guide series. She lives in the Staffordshire Moorlands with her husband, son and dog.

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Introduction

There are few things more rewarding than getting together with a group of like-minded people and discussing a good book. Book club meetings, at their best, are vibrant, passionate affairs. Each member will bring along a different perspective and ideally there will be heated debate.

A surprising number of book club members, however, report that their meetings have been a disappointment. Even though their group loved the particular book they were discussing, they could think of astonishingly little to say about it. Failing to find interesting discussion angles for a book is the single most common reason for book group discussions to fall flat. Most book groups only meet once a month and a lackluster meeting is frustrating for everyone.

Study Guides for Book Clubs were born out of a passion for reading groups. Packed with information, they take the hard work out of preparing for a meeting and ensure that your book group discussions never run dry. How you choose to use the guides is entirely up to you. The author biography and style sections provide useful background information which may be interesting to share with your group at the beginning of your meeting. The all-important list of discussion questions, which will probably form the core of your meeting, can be found towards the end of this guide. To support your responses to the discussion questions, you may find it helpful to refer to the Setting, Themes, and Character sections.

A detailed plot synopsis is provided as an aide-memoire if you need to recap on the finer points of the plot. There is also a quick quiz—a fun way to test your knowledge and bring your discussion to a close. Finally, if this was a book that you particularly enjoyed, the guide concludes with a list of books similar in style or subject matter.

This guide contains spoilers. Please do not be tempted to read it before you have read the original novel as plot surprises will be well and truly ruined.

Kathryn Cope, 2019

Delia Owens

Growing up in rural Georgia, Delia Owens developed a passion for the natural world at an early age. She went on to study at the University of Georgia and earned a PhD in animal behaviour. There she also met her husband Mark Owens. At the age of 24 she travelled to Africa with her husband to study the behaviour of lions, elephants, and brown hyenas in remote areas of Botswana and Zambia. For seven years, the couple lived in the Kalahari Desert removed from any other human company. During this time, they co-authored three nonfiction books describing their experiences: The Eye of the Elephant, Secrets of the Savanna, and Cry of the Kalahari (winner of the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing). They also featured in a National Geographic documentary.

Now divorced, Delia Owens lives in a remote area of Idaho. She remains on good terms with her former husband, who lives in a separate house within the wild acres of land she owns. Surrounded by nature the author is in her element, often observing elk and bears wandering through her garden. She does, however, admit to occasionally feeling lonely—an acknowledgment that her adventurous lifestyle has required sacrifice.

Where the Crawdads Sing is Owens’s first novel and took almost ten years to complete. While writing it, she drew heavily on her observations of animal behaviour and her personal experience of social isolation and loneliness.

First published in August 2018, Crawdads was a runaway success, outselling offerings from better-known authors. The novel’s meteoric rise up the book charts was given a further boost when Reese Witherspoon chose it for her influential Hello Sunshine book club. At the time of writing, Crawdads has topped the bestsellers lists of the New York Times and Amazon for almost six months. The movie rights have been snapped up by Fox 2000 with Reese Witherspoon to produce.

Plot Synopsis

PART 1 – THE MARSH

Prologue – 1969

In Barkley Cove, North Carolina, two boys cycle towards the old fire tower. Seeing something lying in the swamp, they discover the body of Chase Andrews. The date is October 30th, 1969.

1 – Ma – 1952

Six-year-old Kya is the youngest of five siblings. She lives with her family in a shack in the North Carolina marsh. One morning in August, Kya’s mother appears with a bruised face and leaves the shack without saying goodbye. This is not the first time Ma has left after a fight with Pa, and Kya’s brother, Jodie, assures his younger sister that she will return. Kya remains unconvinced as her mother was carrying a suitcase and wearing her best gator shoes.

2 – Jodie – 1952

When Ma fails to return after several weeks, Kya’s eldest sisters and brother move out, tired of their father’s violent outbursts. Only Kya, Jodie, and Pa remain. One day, Pa returns to the shack in a drunken rage and beats Jodie. Shortly afterwards, Jodie tells Kya he is also leaving.

Pa goes missing for five days and, left alone, Kya has to fend for herself. When Pa returns, drunk, he burns Ma’s dresses and paintings on a bonfire. Devastated, Kya unsuccessfully tries to retrieve them from the flames. She learns to keep out of her father’s way, spending her days in the marsh, only returning home to sleep on the porch.

The Clark family live on the disability checks Pa receives for injuries he suffered in World War II. Pa tells Kya that, to earn her keep, she must shop, keep house, collect wood and do the laundry. Kya walks the four miles to Barkley Cove—the nearest small town—to buy groceries. As she approaches the Piggly Wiggly store, she is almost knocked over by three laughing boys on bikes. The boy on the most expensive bike is Chase Andrews whose parents own the Western Auto store. A local woman, Pansy Price, chastises Chase for riding recklessly. When Chase blames Kya for being in his way, Pansy admonishes him for deflecting the blame but refers to Kya as swamp trash. In the Piggly Wiggly, Kya worries about paying for her goods as she does not know the value of coins. Mrs Singletary, the checkout lady, helps her.

After a few disasters, Kya learns how to cook grits and