Miss Erin Cronin, joined Queenswood in September this year. She is an English teacher and also Head of Waller House. In her spare time, Erin enjoys listening to true crime podcasts and walking her Boxer dog Watson.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is the story of a young girl who has to raise herself in the wild marshes of North Carolina. The novel is predominantly a love story, which is not my usual choice of genre, but there is a murder mystery running through the story which gripped me. I devoured the book within a few days!

For me, the setting was the most powerful element of the novel, as I found Owens’ beautiful descriptions of this rural corner of the USA fascinating. The US is depicted so often in novels, television and film, but I was unfamiliar with the wild, unforgiving landscape she described. No detail was spared in her description; from the colours in the sky down to the tiny creatures living in the water, every inch of the marshes was brought to life.

I know writing is excellent when I turn down the corner of pages I want to use as examples in my lessons, and my copy of this novel is full of turned down corners!