How life in isolation as a wildlife scientist helped Delia Owens write her hit debut novel

For years, Delia Owens lived in almost total isolation on a game reserve in the Kalahari desert in southern Africa. In this vast stretch of remote wilderness, there were no roads, running water or signs of any other people. It was an experience that became the foundation for a lot of her writing. 

Owens has co-written three works of non-fiction about her time in Africa and now, decades later, she's published her very first novel, a thriller called Where the Crawdads Sing. The book tells the story of Kya Clark, a young woman who creates a life for herself in the coastal marshes of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family at the age of 10.

The novel is a runaway bestseller, Reese Witherspoon counts herself a fan and it's soon going to be adapted into a movie. Owens joined guest host Laurie Brown in the q studio to tell us more about Where the Crawdads Sing and how she drew from her own experiences of survival and isolation to write it.

"We talk about mother nature, we use that term, but we seldom think about what that means," said Owens. "Nature is our mother and in this book, the marsh is a character. This character, this mother, teaches Kya — teaches Kya how to live, teaches her how to survive — and as Kya grows, she shows all of us that we can do a lot more than we think we can. She shows us that we can be strong. And once we learn how to tackle problems, we become independent. Once you can become resourceful, then you are less lonely."

Where the Crawdads Sing is out now. The movie adaptation has not yet been released.

Download our podcast or click 'Listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation with Delia Owens.

— Produced by ​Danielle Grogan and Cora Nijhawan