Books Like Where The Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was published in 2018 and quickly took the literary world by storm. It has been a permanent fixture on the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2019 and was selected for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club as well as the Best Books of 2018 by Barnes & Nobles. It also outsold all other adult titles, fiction or non-fiction when it came to print copies in 2019. This just goes to show that readers couldn't get enough of the story featuring Danielle "Kya" Clark, the girl who grew up in the marsh of North Carolina. If you are one of the readers left wanting more after finishing this story, check out some of the other books like Where The Crawdads Sing.
Unsheltered
by Barbara Kingsolver
Where the Crawdads Sing is often recommended to fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Unsheltered is one of her novels with the most similarities. Like Where the Crawdads Sing, it is a novel that deals not just with poverty and family, but also the environment. Unsheltered also take place in different timelines but focuses on two separate families. It is also a book that has garnered a lot of acclaim, including being named as one of the best books of 2018 by The Oprah Magazine, Newsweek and many others. Unsheltered focuses on a present-day family who, despite their best efforts, finds themselves on the brink of poverty and living in an inherited house that is on the verge of falling apart. It also follows another family in the 1800s, who are facing adversity of their own in an era where believing in evolution is frowned upon.
Swamplandia
by Karen Russell
Another author who is frequently compared with Delia Owens is Karen Russell, who wrote the 2011 novel, Swamplandia! Her novel tells the tale of the Bigtree family, who are all alligator wrestlers at an alligator-wrestling theme park called Swamplandia! The story opens with the family experiencing a lot of tragedy, including the family patriarch slipping into dementia and his daughter-in-law succumbing to cancer. This leaves the father and three teenage children behind to try and manage the park. Unfortunately, a new amusement park has opened nearby, which results in fewer visitors to Swamplandia! as well as debts beginning to pile up. This leads to fractures in the family as they all try to deal with adversity in their own way.
Southernmost
by Silas House
Southernmost by Silas House is another 2018 novel that deals with courage, heartbreak, change, judgment and other similar themes to Where the Crawdads Sing. It is the story of an evangelical preacher, Asher Sharp, who offers shelter to two gay men when a small Tennessee town suffers from a major flood. However, this act of kindness sets him on a path where he risks losing everything, including his young son Justin when a bitter custody battle ensues. Asher sees no way out except to flee to Key West with Justin in the hopes of reconnecting with the brother he shunned years ago.
The Marsh King's Daughter
by Karen Dionne
The Marsh King's Daughter is a 2017 novel by Karen Dionne. It follows the story of Helena Pelletier, a woman who seemingly has everything. However, despite her loving husband, beautiful daughters and successful business she also has a dark secret from her past. Helena's mother was kidnapped as a teenager where she was held in a remote cabin in the marshlands. Two years after the abduction Helena is born and she grows up unaware of the true circumstances. Helena has kept her secret for more than twenty years, but then her father escapes from prison after killing two guards. A manhunt ensues to try and locate him in the marsh where he fled, but Helena knows that she is the only person who has the necessary skills to find him.
Let's No One Get Hurt
by Jon Pineda
Let's No One Get Hurt by Jon Pineda is the story of Pearl, a fifteen-year-old girl who is squatting in an abandoned boathouse deep in the swamps of the American South. Pearl shares this dwelling with three other people, including her father who is a disgraced college professor. Pearl is the only girl in the group but feels at home with the three men who not only care for her but also teach her everything they know about the world. Then one day Pearl encounters Mason Boyd while she is out scavenging the woods. Mason is from a nearby affluent neighborhood and Pearl discovers that his father has bought the property on which she is squatting.
