那天過後,她徹底孤身在這片荒野中……
孤獨地度過漫漫時光,直到再也無法忍受。她渴望聽到人聲,也想有人相伴。
而為了逃離這份孤獨,她願意付出多少代價?
1969年,柴斯.安德魯的屍體躺在廢棄的防火塔下、那片毫無人煙的沼澤地裡,現場沒有任何足跡。
1945年,奇雅誕生於北卡羅來納州沿岸的棚屋中。這片優美溼地見證了她的悲慘身世。一家人忍受著父親的家暴,母親絕望離家,兄姊也紛紛出走,只留奇雅一人與長期酗酒的父親生活。最後父親也走了。她不被鎮上的人接納,更遭同儕孤立,溼地成了逃離這一切的安全港。奇雅靠挖貽貝維生,探索著溼地裡的生態獨自成長。
她成了溼地中最孤獨的生物,更是小鎮居民口中神祕的「沼澤女孩」。奇雅一邊躲避著小鎮不友善的目光,卻又深受一個男孩吸引。熱愛溼地的泰特,如天邊一道光打入她這片陰暗的沼澤地。他教她讀書認字、啟發了她對生物知識的渴求、還給了她珍貴的初戀。
然而,神似乎遺忘了她。
在那片幽深的泥淖中,沼澤正緩緩吞噬著一具屍體,引發全鎮譁然。
這起悲劇徹底粉碎了她的美好花園,令她成為眾矢之的,更將隱居荒野的她拉回了眾人眼前......
作者將動物學專長揉合進小說中,以美國東南岸溼地與大海作為最美麗的背景,生物求偶、演化的自然循環形成本書最動人的隱喻。散文般細膩的描述,描繪沼澤女孩從幼年到青春期,獨自經歷了孤單,還要面對人性謊言和暴力的摧殘。作者用這片荒野上的故事,讓人們更深刻面對真實的自己。
※本書中文版《沼澤女孩》由馬可孛羅文化出版。
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The #1 New York Times bestselling worldwide sensation with more than 15 million copies sold, "a painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature" (The New York Times Book Review).For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Delia Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.