Kya Clark is known in her small North Carolina settlement as 'the Marsh Girl'. That sounds romantic until you drill down. What it really means is that her family has drifted away, one by one, until she has been left out in the swamp in a rundown cabin since she was around ten. She knows how to survive in the wild but it is a day to day survival with lots of hunger, no trust in humanity and loneliness and despair.
Kya only has a few bright spots in her life. Tate was a friend of her brother before the brother left her life and he befriends Kya also. Tate is the son of a shrimper and loves the marsh and its inhabitants as much as Kya does. He teaches her to read and opens the world up for her. She believes he is her love but he goes off to college and then there is no word from him. Handsome Chase Andrews is quick to step into the breech. He is the town star; the former quarterback who is handsome with rich parents. He isn't a good man and only wants to take advantage of Kya. They start a love affair but her heart is broken again when she realizes he has other women.
Kya becomes a woman the hard way on her own. She breaks through the isolation by studying and documenting the lives of the animals and plants around her and her work is accepted for publication. But when Chase is found dead, suspicion falls on Kya and she finds herself snatched from the marsh and put on trial. Will she lose her way of life forever?
This was the buzz book of the last year. It is a debut novel and the writing is luminous in places as the author describes the flora and fauna of the coastal environment. It is hard to believe that a situation like Kya's could exist but the novel moves the reader along with a suspension of belief that flows. The reader cannot help but sympathize with Kya and her life. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
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