POD: Book Clubs

Where the Crawdad

Striking and evocative

Where the Crawdads Sing is an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heart-breaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising murder mystery all in one. 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.

With themes of abandonment, loneliness, resilience and the power of nature, there’s plenty to discuss about this book. Find out more about the author, her story and the landscape of the marches in the resources below.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

PODCASTS

Interview With Delia Owens

(22 mins )

Delia Owens talks to Moms Don’t Have Time To Read Books Podcast, about her life in the wild, the importance of female friendships, mastering Instagram and how it took 10 years to publish this amazing novel.

Play

The Book Club Review Podcast of Crawdads

(37 mins )

Kate and Laura sit down to chat about the books read most recently by their book clubs. What did they make of them? Did they spark debate? And did they love them or loath them, they always they try to answer the big question: were they great book club books? Find out what Kate’s book club thought about Where The Crawdads Sing.

Play

VIDEOS

“Where the Crawdads Sing” author Delia Owens

(7 mins )

An interview with Owens at her home in Idaho.

Watch

The Flora and fauna of the North Carolina marshes.

(6 mins )

Set in the fictional eastern North Carolina town of Barkley Cove and its surrounding marshes. The novel is an insight into life there. This video showcases the areas nature, landscape, plants and animals.

Watch

ARTICLES

Book Club Questions for Where the Crawdads Sing

Great questions for your Book Club to use to further discussions about the book. From bookclubchat.com

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Shrimp and Grits Casserole

Looking for something authentic to serve your Book Club guests ? Try this recipe from the Taste of the South magazine.

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The Dark History Behind the Year’s Bestselling Debut Novel

Your book club may have read Where the Crawdads Sing. But how much did a long-ago murder in Africa influence Delia Owens’ first novel ? Laura Miller for Slate.

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Retired biologist’s ‘painfully beautiful’ debut novel becomes year’s surprise hit

Publishing experts are baffled by the scale of the book’s success as the story resonates beyond political boundaries and in defiance of falling sales of adult fiction.

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XTRA

Book Club Kit

Delia Owens Website

Gutsy Women

Courage and resilience

Throughout history and around the globe women have overcome the toughest resistance imaginable to win victories that have made progress possible for all of us. That is the achievement of each of the women in this book. They are all gutsy women, leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done.

Be inspired by ordinary women who have gone on the achieve the extraordinary. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have collated ‘The Book of Gutsy Women’ , a phenomenal collection of essays about women who have made a lasting difference in the world. Listen to their interview about the book with Fearne Cotton on the Happy Place podcast and then delve a bit deeper into the stories of nine of these amazing women.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Dear Mrs Bird

Uplifting tale of friendship

London, 1941. Amid the falling bombs Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a fearless Lady War Correspondent. Unfortunately, Emmy instead finds herself employed as a typist for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted.

But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer at this most desperate of times becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she simply must help and secretly starts to write back – after all, what harm could that possibly do?

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

The Vanishing Half

Family and identity

From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, Brit Bennett produces a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past, as it shapes decisions, desires and expectations, and explores the multiple reasons why people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Where the Crawdad

Striking and evocative

PODCASTS

(22 mins )

(37 mins )

Kindle Paperwhite

VIDEOS

(7 mins )

(6 mins )

HelloFresh meal plan offers

ARTICLES

XTRA

Book Club Kit

Delia Owens Website

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