Where the Crawdads Sing was recently released to theaters, but many people don't know about the dark controversy surrounding the author of the original novel that the film adapted. Where the Crawdads Sing is directed by Olivia Newman and is a faithful adaptation, with small changes, of the novel written by Delia Owens in 2018. The film is about an ostracized woman, Kya, who becomes the suspect in a murder when one of the men that she was romantically involved with is killed in the swamp where she lives.
The original book Where the Crawdads Sing is immensely popular and was the #1 bestselling book of the year in 2019 and 2020, catapulting author Delia Owens to becoming a bestselling novelist. Before she wrote Where the Crawdads Sing, which is set in North Carolina, she wrote several other novels that were set in the continent of Africa, including Cry of the Kalahari, Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna. One of the common themes in these three books is the protagonist attempting to stop the local villagers of the area from poaching the animals they are studying. It's that which ties into the controversy associated with Where The Crawdads Sing's author.
What Is The Controversy Around Where The Crawdads Sing?
Delia and Mark Owens lived in Zambia's North Luangwa National Park during the mid-1990s, where they ran a conservation center aimed at protecting wild elephants from poachers. Mark Owens even chose to assemble a team of 60 game scouts who were assigned to hunt poachers in the area. When a poacher was found shot dead in the area of North Luangwa National Park, the Where the Crawdads Sing author was accused of murdering the poacher and was forced to flee Zambia with her family. The Owens were also accused of having archaic ideas about Africans, as they seemed to care more about the landscape and wildlife of the continent than the Africans that lived there.
After these events, a homicide investigation took place. Delia Owens was repeatedly questioned by investigative authorities, but she has not yet provided any information that has helped investigators with the case. Both Delia and Mark Owens have continually denied all accusations made against them, but are still not permitted to return to Zambia. The homicide investigation and claimed innocence sound remarkably similar to the plot of Where the Crawdads Sing.
Clearly, Delia Owens' novel was based on the events of her own life, as she has repeatedly claimed that she was not involved in the poacher's homicide, just like how Kya denies her accusations of murder in Where the Crawdads Sing. This creates an interesting parallel for those who choose to see the film. Beyond the murder accusations, the controversy of how Owens and her husband behaved toward the native African people shouldn't be ignored.