“With a jaw-dropping mystery, stunning Southern setting, and endlessly fascinating female heroine at its center, I loved this book the moment I read it and am so excited to join forces with Elizabeth and her team to bring Delia’s truly moving page-turner to the screen. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

I am thrilled to share some MAJOR NEWS! So many of you have asked if CRAWDADS will be made into a movie. It is happening!

Fox 2000 (of 20th Century Fox) is the studio; Reese Witherspoon will produce the film. I believe they are the perfect team to bring Kya's story to the large screen! Thanks to all of you for your great support!

“In its first eight weeks, its sales exceeded those of several of Putnam’s other best-selling debuts, its editor Tara Singh Carlson said. The book has spent nine weeks both on the New York Times best-seller list and Amazon’s most-sold fiction chart. It is also one of seven fiction nominees for the 2019 Southern Book Award….

“Where the Crawdads Sing” gained a high-profile fan in Reese Witherspoon, who named it a September pick for her Hello Sunshine book club….

When Ms. Carlson read the manuscript, she made an offer to Ms. Owens’s agent within a week, which successfully pre-empted an auction.

‘Part of what made me move so quickly had to do with Delia’s specific life experience that gives this book some of its special magic,’ Ms. Carlson says. ‘It’s a story that speaks to where people have come from evolutionarily and about what motivates us and what causes us to do what we do.’”

— Tobias Grey, Wall Street Journal

I'm excited to share this article from the Wall Street Journal, which ran in Monday's print edition! It's online and if you have a Wall Street Journal subscription, you can read it at the link below.

Tobias Grey, "With ‘Where the Crawdads Sing," a Debut Novel Goes Big," Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2018.

I’m honored that the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) has named Where the Crawdads Sing a finalist for their Southern Book Prize Award in 2019!

Winner of the Southern Book Prize will be announced on February 14, 2019 — Valentine’s Day.

Titles ranked in the monthly Audiobook Best-Seller Lists are selected by the Best-Seller List editors from sales in the United States of digital and physical audio products for the month of September.

I’m thrilled that Where the Crawdads Sing arrived on the New York Times monthly Audiobook Best-Seller List at #1! The rankings are from September and this is Crawdads first month on the list.

September has truly been one of the best months of my life!

Thank you to all my readers, to Reese Witherspoon again for selecting Crawdads as her September Book Club selection, and to Cassandra Campbell for her enchanting narration.

A version of this list appears in the October 14, 2018 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending September 29, 2018.

Where the Crawdads Sing has now climbed to #6 on The New York Times bestseller list! I’m grateful. Again, to all my readers, thank you!

A version of this list appears in the October 7, 2018 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending September 22, 2018.

I’m thrilled that Where the Crawdads Sing has now climbed to #7 on The New York Times bestseller list!

Again, to all my readers, thank you!

“The title of Delia Owens’ debut novel, ‘Where the Crawdads Sing,’ refers to a place ‘far in the bush where critters are wild, still behaving like critters.’ Indeed, the untamed North Carolina marshland setting is not merely a backdrop for the remarkable story that unfolds, but it shares center stage with the unforgettable protagonist, Kya.
…
The beautifully executed tale offers a reminder that despite all of society’s material trappings, humans ultimately mimic the survivalist and carnal behavior of animals. Owens paints such a vivid picture of life on the periphery of civilization’s reach that the reader will undoubtedly gain a newfound appreciation for the marsh, an environment ‘where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky.’”

Becca J. G. Godwin, “‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ pits natural beauty vs. human ugliness in a Carolina marsh living,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 29, 2018.

A version of this list appears in the September 30, 2018 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending September 15, 2018.

I am very excited that Where the Crawdads Sing has moved up to #8 on The New York Times bestseller list!

To my readers and all, thank you!

A version of this list appears in the September 23, 2018 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending September 8, 2018.

I am thrilled that Where the Crawdads Sing has hit #9 on The New York Times bestseller list! This is just wonderful.

The readers made it happen (and Putnam Books and a lot of writing)! Thank you!

I am so excited that Where the Crawdads Sing has been chosen by Reese Witherspoon as the September book of the month for Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine!

“I can’t even express how much I love this book! My September pick is “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. It’s about a young woman named Kya, who’s left to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina when her family abandons her at a young age. There is so much to her story: romance, mystery, and a murder… and it takes place in the breathtaking backdrop of the South. I didn’t want this story to end!”

— x Reese

I'm grateful for Reese's very kind words about Kya and thrilled her story was chosen for Reese's club pick.

Anyone can join! Pick up a copy of CRAWDADS, then follow Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine on Instagram or Facebook to read and discuss it together throughout the month.