This book had many fantastic reviews and I was looking forward to reading it as it was the Hello Sunshine Book Club choice for September 2018. It did not disappoint! I would love to see this made into a movie.
This is the story of young Kya, who grew up in the marsh of North Carolina. Her mother abandoned her and her siblings when she was very young, and then all her siblings left next. Her father is an abusive drunk, and is rarely around leaving her many times alone and afraid with little money or ways to fend for herself. She takes to the marsh to learn about life and has to learn to fend for herself. The birds and wildlife become her friends.
Years pass and she meets Tate, who knew her older brother. He has looked out for her over the years and begins to teach her about the marsh and leave her feathers that she collects. He also falls in love with her. When he graduates high school and goes to college, she is devastated and once again alone and is drawn to the town womanizer. Chase, is eventually found dead near the beginning of the book lying at the bottom of the Fire Tower. Everyone in town things the “marsh girl” did it because she is a loner, poor and is odd. Her town has created her to be an outcast of society as they never helped her as a young child.
Kya, surrounded by nature and at the suggestion of Tate starts to record what she sees and experiences. She is able to become a successful author later in life which is a huge turn of events for this uneducated, poor, lonely girl.
The book held me captivated and I was shocked in the final pages when surprises are revealed. It’s very rare that you don’t know the plot and ending of a book but this one had a sudden turn right at the end, that made me go back and re-read the final pages again.