Hidden pasts!

-

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper   

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tea Cooper has an uncanny ability to join a story by threads of happenstance across several generations. This time in Morpeth, NSW (Australia). The story is connected by the central idea of a delicate painting of the first discovery of the Wanderer Butterfly, painted and researched by Theodora Breckenridge(unacknowledged of course!)

Add into this the tragedy of baby farms, stolen children and a woman who orchestrated these things, and we have a stunning expose across time delving into just exactly what happened in the Morpeth community between 1868 and 1922.

In 1922 Verity Binks, a struggling reporter and the daughter of the a now deceased war correspondent, is invited to write a piece about a charity, the Treadwell Foundation. The mover behind the organization is David Treadwell, husband to Theodora’s sister Florence . It’s in Treadwell’s home that Verity first sees the stunning painting of the Wanderer Butterfly. 

As the circle closes it appears Verity’s grandparents came from Morpeth where the butterfly was painted.

I love the way Cooper’s writing transverses the Australian historical landscape as she weaves her storytelling magic.

Sublime descriptions of gardens lush and heavy with perfumed anticipation contrast against the fractured lives of the women and babies that intrude into a harsh reality. Darkness hides amongst them. Mystery and tragedy beckons!

Another heart stopping treat from Tea Cooper!


A Harper Muse ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

Darkness and passion in 1750's Venice.

-
Image
Venice in the Moonlight by Elizabeth McKenna This story had me with the first line! The image portrayed is wonderful! A surreal moment! That moment captures with a totally restrained focus the helplessness and seething anger of Marietta Gatti, set against the background of a dysfunctional marriage and family. So much is weighted by so few words. OK so I have just been to the Magritte exhibition at the MoMA, NYC and combining that with Dali, the picture of peas being not squashed but smashed by a silver spoon against the background of  imagined expensive plate is quite fascinating. A despicable husband and an even more terrible mother-in-law have been the bane of Marietta's life for the past 5 years. When released, or rather driven from that life, Marietta returns to Venice to track down her father, a renowned painter. He has never contacted her in all the years of her married isolation. There are many questions to be answered.    En route to Venice from Verona, the publi
Read more