From the very start, this book pulled me in, and mesmerized me all the way through. The main character is a mess of wildness and poetry, and the story is combination murder mystery, coming of age, and a beautifully written offering on the ways in which we are all part of the same ecosystem, no matter where we came from, how we got here, or where we are going. It explores the deep kind of otherness, the brutality of loneliness; race and class systems in the 1960s; and the difference between love that takes, and a love that gives.
For the nature loving, detail oriented, feather collector in me - this book was everything. I might even say that it's my favorite book of all time (so far). Note: I'm not sure I would make this a beach read. I cried through a LOT of it, but I don't know if it's because it was sad/painfully lovely, or because it is written in a way that I could feel deep in my bones. Unless you don't mind sobbing in public, then by all means, carry on...
I sincerely hope Delia Owens writes another, and another, and another. This was a grand entrance into the literary world, and given her full lifetime and rich career prior to having published a novel, really speaks to the truth that it's never too late to follow your heart, and share your gifts...