Where the Crawdads Sing

by Delia Owens

the definition of a real man is one who cries without shame, reads poetry with his heart, feels opera in his soul, and does what’s necessary to defend a woman.

Within all the worlds of biology, she searched for an explanation of why a mother would leave her offspring.

She laughed for his sake, something she’d never done. Giving away another piece of herself just to have someone else.

Faces change with life’s toll, but eyes remain a window to what was, and she could see him there.

I have to say I am relieved it is over: At the end I could feel only pity For that urge toward more life. . . . Goodbye.

Female fireflies draw in strange males with dishonest signals and eat them; mantis females devour their own mates. Female insects, Kya thought, know how to deal with their lovers.

Each time I forget you Your eyes haunt my heart and it falls still. And so farewell Until the next time you come, Until at last I do not see you.”