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1500s, 1980s, 1990s, 2011: When a butterfly flaps its wings, the vibrations can be felt across the generations: When a butterfly flaps its wings, the vibrations can be felt across the generations
The Butterfly Summer
What you need to know before your trail
In present day, Nina meets an old woman in the London library. She goes there to remember her dad, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle when she was a child never to be seen again. One day an old woman strikes up a conversation with her, telling her she knows who she is and that she knows about what happened to her father.
The story then starts of what led up to this day, the Nina who lived in the days of King Charles and the time they spent together when he was sheltering from the roundheads in Keepsake. They have a daughter and the kingvows that Keepsake should be handed down to her and to all women in the family.
As past and present mix, the Parr family women discover a lot about their true heritage, lost chances and life changes. How one event can alter the future.
Travel Guide
Cornwall
This is a story about chances, lost opportunities and forgotten pasts. One house Keepsake sits at its centre. A house tucked away in Cornwall which begins the story of how a King fell in love with the owner of a butterfly garden. A child is born and so begins the chain of events which has effects down the years.
London
Each woman tells her story – present day Nina lives in her own shelter in London. A house which she and her mum now fully own after kindly Mrs Poll died. Mr Poll who lived on the top floor and was Nina’s fairy godmother looking after her when it became too much for mum. Living through a divorce, Nina finds comfort here and in the books about butterflies she devours thanks to her father. Imagine finding out in the very library where she reads, that her father’s story might not be over just yet.
The story of the butterflies, the brooch that King Charles II gives to his daughter Charlotte engraved with the words ‘What’s loved is never lost’. This keepsake is one which reverberates through time as does the inheritance passed down the line to the Parr women and the efforts to right wrongs, change the course of events from one moment many years ago
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
This is a really unusual book – haunting and poignant in turn and a real trail to find out the truth of the past. I admit I found the idea intriguing from the beginning – like how one butterfly flapping its wings can change things and how we over the years try to make things right, change the course of events and the things we do to keep family together.
The fact that the past and present was written in different fonts helped as I did get a little mixed up at the beginning but as the book progressed I found it was easier to keep track of who was who. the story of the past was the best – full of rich detail and interesting butterfly facts. How the story blended into the present was nicely done and it felt like a rich experience by the end.
This is very different to what I’v read from Harriet before but it was a lovely surprise – a really unusual idea and I enjoyed getting to know all the women of the family.
The mystery does reveal itself before the end but the satisfaction of reading it and patting yourself on the back, seeing how events have turned out is a lovely reward. This is a journey about women in one family and their keepsake. I am now off to goggle more about butterflies as they are fascinating !
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Butterfly Summer
Destination:London, Helford, Cornwall Departure Time: 1500s, 1980s, 1990s, 2011:
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