Writing style
Atmospheric · Descriptive · Lyrical
Apple Books- Print length
- 384 pagesG.P. Putnam's Sons, 2018
Description
Abandoned during childhood, Kya grows up alone in the marshes outside Barkley Cove, North Carolina, learning survival from tides, birds, shells, and the shifting wetlands. The townspeople reduce her to the mysterious “Marsh Girl,” but her isolation conceals a fierce intelligence and a deep observational bond with nature. As Kya reaches adulthood, her longing for connection draws her toward two young men from town, exposing her to affection as well as danger. In 1969, when Chase Andrews is found dead, local suspicion settles quickly on her. Moving between Kya’s coming-of-age and the murder investigation, the novel combines romance, courtroom mystery, and natural history while examining loneliness, prejudice, abandonment, and the human cost of belonging nowhere.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Atmospheric · Melancholic · Reflective · Suspenseful
Structure
Dual timeline · Nonlinear
Focus
Atmosphere · Character · Mystery
Emotional intensity
4 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 2 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
Themes
What to read next
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- G.P. Putnam's Sons
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780735219090
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