Ooft, what a book! A tale of prejudice, love and the might nature.

Kya, the 'Marsh girl', is a girl abandoned by all. Choosing to stay shut away from all in her families shack in the marsh, Kya avoids all from truant officers to the police.

She finds love and suffers loss. Wonders if her mother will return. Feeds the gulls and tells poetry to the marshland that is her home.

That is until Chase Andrews is found dead with Kya blamed. The evidence? Questionable. The truth? Not what you might think.

The story winds between past, her two loves, and present, a murder trial at which she is at the centre. You feel as if you're really in the marsh, boating through the reeds and watching the glistening water as the birds swoop by. It's clear that the author is a nature writer as these sections describing the marsh were the best.

On the other hand, there were parts of the book which felt disjointed. It's a tale of prejudice, and not just aimed at Kya. For the most part, it feels as though the characters could walk through your door at any moment. Yet, there's a clear discrepancy between the two sides of the story. Whenever the chapters changed to the present day murder mystery, I found myself longing to return to Kya's marsh. It felt as though the dialogue between the cops was forced. A little too 'this must be said here to further this side of the plot' robotic. Even then, it didn't feel like it moved forward until the trial actually began. Nevertheless, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. Indeed, I found myself as tense as anything reading the trial. Even the idea of Kya being jailed awaiting it, seperated from the marsh so lovingly described-it hurt.

Usually when a book comes highly recommended I feel it lacks something. Maybe it's the hype. Maybe it's just not the right time for me to be reading it. But this book? Goodness this book was good! Twists and turns down to the last chapter. Ooft what a book!