Summary
Kya visits Jumpin' to get the bus times to Greenville so she can meet with her editor, Robert Foster. Jumpin' notices Kya's bruises and Kya reveals that Chase hit her. She convinces Jumpin' not to tell the police, because the town is prejudiced against her and will accuse her of "whoring." Jumpin', afraid Chase will retaliate against Kya, makes Kya promise to visit more frequently and states that if he doesn't see her for more than a day, he will visit her shack with "a posse if need be."
Kya goes to Greenville and meets her editor, and when she returns, Jumpin' informs her that Chase died and the police suspect murder.
The sheriff testifies that, in his expert opinion, someone intentionally destroyed footprints at the crime scene. Tom Milton pokes holes in the argument using his knowledge of the marsh tides, claiming that the marsh could have naturally disrupted Chase's footprints. Milton then questions why the police did not test if the marsh could wash away footprints or document signs of erased tracks. Then, Milton introduces a letter that the sheriff wrote to the Forest Service requesting maintenance on the fire tower because "a serious injury or even death will occur" if the gates remain unsealed.
The prosecution then interviews the bus driver, who testifies that he thinks "a skinny passenger" riding the bus might have been Kya "disguised as a man." Tom Milton clarifies that the witness only confirmed that the young man could have been Kya "when the sheriff suggested it." Furthermore, since the driver did not take notes, the police cannot verify the driver's recollections. Another bus driver posits a similar disguise story but then confirms during cross-examination that Kya was not on the last bus to Barkley Cove. There was no other bus the night of Chase's death.
The day after the bus driver's testimony, Kya enters the courtroom and sees Jodie sitting with Tate, Jumpin, and Mabel. She is initially ashamed, knowing news about her trial must have reached Atlanta, because Kya did not personally inform Jodie of her trial.
Chase's mother, Patti Love, is called to the stand. The prosecution introduces a journal Kya gave to Chase as evidence. Handmade and full of paintings of their time together, Kya is infuriated at the invasion of privacy, especially because she was "denied the joy of giving gifts" for her entire life. Patti Love recalls finding the journal in Chase's possession, horrified to discover images of "her Chase with trash." One of the images in the journal depicts Kya giving Chase the shell necklace while standing on the fire tower, which the town considers a clear indication of Kya's guilt.
Tom Milton's witnesses are primarily townsfolk who confirm that Kya got on and off the bus at the appropriate times. However, the prosecution willingly confirms that Kya was on the appropriate buses, undermining Milton's courtroom strategy by making the alibi seem unimportant.
The defense calls Lang Forlough, the sleazy motel owner who kept tabs on Kya because she was "the type of woman men notice." Despite his inappropriate behavior, Lang is an essential witness, as he confirms Kya did not leave her hotel room the night of Chase's murder.
Next, Robert Foster, Kya's editor, confirms he met Kya and speaks positively about her character. He explains that Kya is a highly introverted person who would not want to stay at the "bustling" Piedmont Hotel, despite its superior quality. Foster then sits with Tate, Scupper, Mabel, and Jumpin' in a show of support for Kya.
When Tom Milton interrogates Sheriff Ed Jackson, the sheriff confirms that Kya did not have enough time to go by boat to the fire tower. For his final witness, Milton calls Tim O'Neil, a long-time shrimper and upstanding citizen, who testifies that it was impossible to tell on the night in question if the person in the boat was Kya.
The prosecution and defense give closing statements. Tom Milton opens his closing statement by calling out the prejudice Kya faced growing up, arguing that it ultimately resulted in her murder accusation. The jury deliberates for a few hours, leaving Kya's friends and family desperate for answers. To mixed reactions, the jury reaches a not-guilty verdict. Some townsfolk are relieved while others accuse Kya of having "got away with the whole thing."
Kya thanks Robert Foster, Tom, and her friends, and Jodie drives her home. Jodie asks to stay to support Kya as she transitions back into her normal life, but Kya wants to process the events alone. She begins her next book on marsh grasses but is distracted by her anger and trauma. Nearby, Tate collects samples and thinks about visiting Kya. A noisy new airboat speeds past, carrying the sheriff, who informs Tate that his father, Scupper, has died.
Tate regrets that he spent most of his time "pining after Kya" and very little time with his father in the final months of his life. Tate visits his father's grave and plays Scupper's favorite record, then returns to his boat, where Kya left a feather from a female night heron, "a long-legged secretive creature who lives deep in the marsh, alone." Tate immediately goes to Kya, and they confess their love for one another. Tate asks Kya to marry him, but she says they are already married "like the geese." Tate moves into Kya's shack, and they live a peaceful existence, Kya working on her books and Tate working in the lab.
One day—years later—Tate returns home with news that Jumpin' died in his sleep. Kya does not attend his funeral but finally visits Mabel with blackberry jam, as she intended to do decades before as a child. Mabel tells Kya that Jumpin' loved her like the daughter he had lost, and Kya tells Mabel that Jumpin was her father in the truest sense.
Over the years, Kya and Tate enjoy time with Jodie's family, and Kya publishes seven "award-winning books." She receives accolades and honorary degrees but does not leave the marsh to accept them. When Kya is sixty-four, she dies quietly, having "lived long enough to see the bald eagles make a comeback." At her funeral, "long lines" of people attend. Tate arranges for Kya's grave to be inscribed with the epithet "Marsh Girl" which has become a legendary title instead of an insult.
Later, Chase finds a box of Amanda Hamilton poems in Kya's handwriting, revealing that Kya was actually Amanda Hamilton, publishing in the newspaper under a false name. In the box is a poem that reveals Kya did kill Chase, along with his shell necklace. Chase burns the poems and places Chase's shell on the sand, letting Kya's secrets die with her.
Analysis
Throughout the text, Kya compares her romantic partners, and men generally, to animals, drawing parallels between the courtship patterns of marsh animals and the way Tate and Chase treat her. During Kya's trial, she expands this metaphor, noting that though the men do not compete for sexual partners, they compete to "win" the trial and use many of the same strategies animals do when seeking territory or a mate. For example, the prosecutor wears a red tie, symbolically signaling his role as a "lesser male," using rhetorical tricks "to be noticed." In contrast, Tom Milton, an experienced prosecutor, is confident and thus similar to "a powerful buck, acknowledged as such." By extending the metaphor of human behavior mirroring animal behavior, the text comments on the themes of wildness and masculinity outside of the romantic and sexual context.
The courtroom scenes are rendered primarily in dialogue instead of descriptions and analysis. This format calls to mind a play or courtroom transcript, adding drama and fast pacing to the narrative as the story builds to its climax, the reading of Kya's not-guilty verdict. Additionally, the text presents the closing statements in fractured snippets, simulating how Kya, disassociating, hears them. This technique keeps the closing statements concise and provides the reader with a clear overview of the prosecution and defense's arguments while simultaneously giving the reader insight into Kya's emotional experience.
Tom Milton's arguments hinge on the fact the prosecution's case is primarily speculative evidence and testimony from prejudiced townsfolk. However, the court "cannot accept the word guess in a murder trial." It is the prosecution's responsibility to prove Kya's guilt.
First, Milton establishes that no evidence suggests that Kya was in town or on the fire tower the night Chase died. The detectives found no footprints or fingerprints at the crime scene and no evidence of a coverup. Additionally, the marsh would have destroyed Chase's footprints as the tide rose.
Lab analysis confirms that the fibers on Chase's coat belonged to a hat in Kya's possession, which Kya had worn since her hair was in the hat. However, Milton points out that the fibers could have attached to Chase's coat at any point in his and Kya's relationship, and this argument invalidates the fibers as physical evidence. Additionally, the injuries on Chase's body did not suggest a struggle or that he was pushed.
Second, Milton argues that the testimony that two shrimpers saw Kya on her boat heading to the fire tower cannot be confirmed. Since there was no moon at the time, the shrimpers only saw a silhouette. Since Kya's boat is a common size and shape, the shrimpers could not be sure it was Kya heading to the fire tower.
Lastly, multiple witnesses testify that Kya met her editor in Greenville the night of Chase's murder, getting on and off the bus at the appropriate times and staying in her motel room for the entire night. Additionally, because the bus from Greenville was delayed, Kya would not have had enough time to commit the murder. The prosecution's argument, by contrast, speculates that Kya may have disguised herself as an old woman or young man, committed the murder, and returned to Greenville, all in one night.
After the trial, Kya creates her own family with her loved ones. Though she does not have biological children, she enjoyed Jumpin', Mabel, Tate, and Jodie's company. When Jodie and his children visit, "the shack swelled with family around the old cookstove, serving up Ma's corn fritters, scrambled eggs, and sliced tomatoes. But this time there was laughter and love." Using the motif of Southern cooking, this domestic scene contrasts with earlier descriptions of Kya's home life and demonstrates that Kya successfully constructed a family that will not abandon her.
The text characterizes Kya's surprise at hearing of Chase's death as genuine. This intentional misleading maintains tension and allows the reader to entertain both possibilities: that Kya is guilty or innocent. With the prosecution's weak arguments and the not-guilty verdict, the final revelation that Kya did in fact kill Chase is a surprising plot twist.
Kya's poem, "The Firefly," is a confession to Chase's murder. The poem recalls an earlier anecdote where Kya, watching female fireflies devour their male mates, notes that female fireflies "know how to deal with their lovers." The reader is then left to wonder if Kya began to plot Chase's murder before or after the assault.
When Tate returns Chase's shell necklace to the sea and burns Kya's poems, he lets the marsh "keep her secrets deep." This phrase recalls an analysis in the text's first chapter that discusses how the marsh serves as a refuge for outcasts. For criminals and misfits, the marsh "did not confine them but defined them and, like any sacred ground, kept their secrets deep." By reiterating this phrase, the text confirms that Kya, both a misfit and a murderer, adds to the marsh's long and mysterious history.
