Where the Crawdads Sing continues the trend of murder-mystery novels being turned into films, capitalizing on the success of titles such as Gone Girl and Deep Water.
Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kya is blamed for the death of little Chase in North Carolina in this film. It builds on author Delia Owens’ 2018 book on Kya’s coming-of-age story of going off the rails after falling in love with the young man.
Where The Crawdads Sing has become one of the best-selling books in recent years after its release in 2018. By the end of 2019, it had sold 4.5 million copies and was promoted by celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon, who included it in her Hello Sunshine Book Club. All of this makes an adaptation starring former Fifty Shades of Grey star Daisy-Edgar Jones all the more predictable.
Is there a factual narrative behind Where The Crawdads Sing, despite the fact that it is a work of fiction? Is there any relation between the marsh girl’s hardships and tribulations and Owens’ own past? After all, artists frequently incorporate aspects of their personal lives into their work. We dug deep into the internet marshes to find answers.
Is There A True Story Behind Where The Crawdads Sing?
Because the book and film Where the Crawdads Sing do not appear to be explicitly based on true events, the answer to the question “Is Where the Crawdads Sing a true story?” is “sort of.”
There does not appear to be a woman in public records who, like the heroine in Where the Crawdads Sing, lived alone in a marsh and was declared not guilty of murder — but there are parallels to Owens’ background. Delia Owens and her then-husband, Mark, worked as conservationists in Africa before becoming authors. Chris, Delia’s stepson and Mark’s son, joined them in Africa.
Their work concentrated on saving elephants from poachers in Zambia, and they were featured in an ABC special documentary about their conservation efforts at the time. Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story, a documentary, captured Mark on tape telling scouts to shoot poachers who entered the national park.
This might be a genuine story from Where the Crawdads Sing, as conservation efforts turned a documentary into a true-crime investigation after an alleged poacher was shot and killed after approaching a campsite. Following the broadcast of the show, the Zambian authorities launched an ongoing homicide inquiry.
Following an investigation, it was discovered that their son, Chris, had allegedly fired two of the three rounds at the putative poacher, but the entire family denied involvement in the incident. In truth, Delia stated that Chris wasn’t in the camp at the time and had been mistaken for a camera operator with the same name, Chris Everson.
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Everson claims Mark flew himself, Chris Owens, and another scout to the site and then abandoned them. Chris Owens allegedly fired a shot when the poacher came, according to Everson. Everson recorded the scout fire a second shot, followed by Owens shooting a third. Footage vanished from the tent one day, only to emerge the next.
Where The Crawdads Sing Real-Life Inspiration Explained
There are elements in the actual story Where the Crawdads Sing that suggest it was inspired by a real-life tragedy.
The spectator is supposed to sympathize with Kya because of her intentions in the novel and film. Though not the identical scenario, implying that it is unrelated to the true story of Where the Crawdads Sing, the death of a nameless poacher intent on injuring animals in a national park may be considered appropriate by some in order to protect the animals. If Chris did, in theory, shoot the poacher, he got away with it.
Mark, like Kya, allegedly left a note proving his culpability, which was documented in the documentary, in which he remarked, “Two poachers have been killed and one wounded… we are just getting warmed up.”
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Authors, such as Delia Owens, frequently draw on personal experiences when writing, thus it’s probable that the Where The Crawdads Sing true story is based on the strange death of the poacher, whether her family was involved or not. When viewed in this manner, Where the Crawdads Sing is a genuine story, though not when it comes to the nitty-gritty of the plot.