The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston

Originally, I had planned to save this for summer reading, (see Dec's post), but I changed my mind. Having just finished Wally Lamb's novel, I was in the mood for something a bit lighter. (i.e. no killing, raping, cheating, insanity etc). I guess I avoided a couple of those  topics, but got another bid dose of the "neurosis"...

The Butterfly House was given to me at my Book Club's Christmas book exchange. It's not a book that I would have chosen myself, but that's why I looked forward to reading it! A Harlequin book (not the romance type), I have to admit having never read anything from this publishing house. That's the beauty of the book club...I am willingly forced to try new genres and read authors that I would have previously dismissed.

Here's a quick summary as per Goodreads.com:

"As a child, Bobbie Lee found refuge from her lonely life at her best friend's house. Rockhaven was a place of magic, colored by the butterflies that Cincy Jaines's mother, Lenora, studied. Her friendship with Cincy and Lenora soon became Bobbie's compass. But the tangled intimacies between them began to unravel, and in one night, Rockhaven became a place of unspeakable tragedy. Now, a decade later, the long shadows of that night continue to haunt Bobbie, despite her attempts to hide from the past. When a stranger with ties to Lenora and Cincy arrives at her doorstep, she is forced to confront the memories she has tried to avoid, and the dark secret at the heart of the tragedy slowly emerges"


Marcia Preston

This novel is an easy read. It's about two childhood friends who grow up together and both suffer from absent fathers. Their mothers are both struggling financially and they both have very little material wealth. While Bobbie Lee's mom struggles with severe alcoholism, Cynthia's mom takes on the nurturing role for both girls. Lenora is an unemployed butterfly researcher who conducts experiments on her sun porch. The central metaphor is thus established between Bobbi Lee's coming of age, and the butterfly's metamorphosis.

There is an interesting, brief interview with this author at: http://www.trashionista.com/2008/06/author-interv-1.html

The author also has a website that shows she is quite prolific: http://www.marciapreston.com/

Anyhow, this novel has left me yearning for a strong, stable and intelligent protagonist, who isn't loosing her mind, temper, husband or morality. As you can tell with my reading list, it's been a while since I've enjoyed a strong, solid female character.  Not sure if I'm on track with my next novel, but I'll let you know!