Where the Crawdads Sing was a bestselling book by Delia Owens before Reese Witherspoon adapted it into a movie—and the controversy surrounding Owens’ alleged potential involvement in a murder (yes, really) cast a dark shadow over the film, which hits theaters on July 13. Find out all about the Delia Owens controversy—but beware of Where the Crawdads Sing spoilers ahead.
What is the Delia Owens controversy?
Delia and husband Mark Owens were conservationists before she was an author, working largely in Zambia to prevent poachers from hunting elephants. The Owenses were featured in the 1996 ABC News Turning Point special Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story, where Mark is seen directing “scouts” from the Zambian government to shoot at suspected poachers in North Luangwa National Park—and the documentary captures a suspected poacher getting shot with basically zero information about what happened to him afterward. Later reports in The Atlantic and The New Yorker revealed that Christopher Owens, Mark’s son (Delia’s stepson) was suspected of shooting at least two of the three bullets at the alleged poacher. The poacher’s body has never been found and his name never revealed. Delia and Mark Owens have long denied any involvement with the shooting, and Delia previously said that Christopher wasn’t present when the homicide occurred, saying that there was confusion because a cameraman for ABC named Chris was present. However, that cameraman, Chris Everson, said that Christopher Owens was indeed there at the time. Everson alleged that Mark dropped him, Christopher Owens and a “scout” off at the scene and that when the alleged poacher arrived, Christopher Owens fired the first shot, the scout fired the second shot and Christopher then fired a third shot from out of the camera’s range. The New Yorker reported that Mark was suspected of putting the poacher’s body in the cargo net of his helicopter and dropping it into a lagoon, an allegation Mark and Delia have both vehemently denied. Everson said he didn’t see Christopher Owens after the shooting, with The New Yorker reporting that the U.S. Embassy in Zambia instructed the Owenses to leave the country until the case was solved. The New Yorker also obtained a letter, allegedly written by Mark, boasting about killing poachers. The Owenses have never been charged in connection with the case, but are still wanted for questioning. Christopher Owens has a rap sheet stateside, with charges including cruelty to animals and assault. Other criticisms of Owens include her alleged habit of infantilizing Africans both in her fictional and real worlds and proliferating colonialist attitudes.
Is Where the Crawdads Sing based on a true story?
Warning: There are major Where the Crawdads Sing spoilers ahead. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images In terms of the exact plot, Where the Crawdads Sing isn’t based on a true story. However, there are some unsettling parallels between the plot of the book and events that allegedly went down in Delia Owens’ own life that were already publicized years before she became a novelist. According to Slate, there are small details lifted from Delia’s experiences that pop up in the book Where the Crawdads Sing, including a cat named after a cook that her family had previously employed—but that it’s the protagonist getting away with murder that obviously raises the most eyebrows. In the book, Kya kills a man named Chase who attempted to rape her. She is charged with the slaying, but gets away with it; the reader is expected to side with her. Similarly, Slate writer Laura Miller notes, “After all, isn’t Chase, like that nameless poacher, a bad man, who got his just desserts even if his killing technically violates the law of the land?” Next, find out 40 ways white women can help in the fight against racism.
