One of the most pivotal and hard-hitting characters of the story is Pa. Believing that her solitude is her strength, she must learn that her desire for love and kinship is what makes her weak. When a young local man is found dead in the marshes, however, her life of solitude beyond the oak trees turns to one behind bars, and Kya must learn to lean on those around her to fight for her freedom. At the age of 22, she becomes a published author of marshland biology, an expert on the land that raised her, and builds herself a beautiful, yet lonely life. More than a murder suspect, Kya’s journey is painfully beautiful as she becomes a woman, learns to read and write, finds her first love, and toys with the idea of trusting humans. After years of very little human interaction, Kya learns to keep herself safe from strangers by following what she has learned from the native wildlife, such as the deer who taught her to hide in the palmettos from predators, and the Cooper's Hawk who taught her that some people will come back. Ruddy and brawny, yet slim and strikingly beautiful, Kya is a mysterious, celestial wonder to those who dare go near, yet those who do not understand her call her filthy marsh trash, and shame her for the way that she lives, not knowing that the child lives alone. Labeled the marsh girl by the townspeople of Barkley Cove, Kya hides out in her grandfather's fishing shack, making friends with the creatures and plants of the marsh, and living off of foraged mussels and ten-cent grits that she buys from her only human friend, Jumpin. Kya, abandoned in the marsh at the age of seven, leaves school after only one day of incessant teasing from her peers. Here’s a look at who will be portraying who in the dramatic, thrilling film. All of them fans of the novel itself, the actors were reportedly excited to take on the roles every day that they were on set, giving the heartfelt, heavy story their all.

With such a large audience already loving the story that author Delia Owens has written, the actors filling the shoes of the characters in this emotional tale surely feel the weight that the roles carry. More than a murder mystery, and more than a coming of age story, the tale of Kya, the Marsh Girl, is one of solitude, melancholy, strength, love, and hope.

While fans of the novel are afraid as always that the film won’t be able to capture the meditative, magnificent, mysterious story that they’ve read, hopes are high that the powerfully written characters, and the actors who portray them, will bring this story to life. The painfully beautiful story of Kya and her life of solitude in Where the Crawdads Sing is making its way from printed pages of well-loved books to screens everywhere.

Who sings fishing in the dark