The Butterfly Collector

Title:  The Butterfly Collector

Author:  Tea Cooper

Publication Information:  Harper Muse. 2023. 400 pages.

ISBN:  1400245176 / 978-1400245178

Rating:   ★★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My office, if you please, Miss Binks."

Favorite Quote:  "Never can tell what fate will decide."

The Butterfly Collector is and is not about butterflies - monarchs in particular. The book is a moving historical mystery that tells its story in two timelines - late 1800s in Morpeth, Australia and the 1920s in Sydney, Australia.

In the 1800s, there is Theodora, who would spend her time chasing butterflies rather than social connections and potential husbands.

In the 1920s, there is Verity, a reporter who has lost her job to the men returning from war but who then receives an intriguing gift of a dress and an invitation to a masquerade ball. The proposition offered at the ball leads Verity to Morpeth and what transpired there decades earlier.

The book picks up on two completely different and completely unconnected facets of Australian history. The first history is that of the arrival of the monarchs in Australia in the 1870s. It has never been determined exactly how that happened - larvae on board a ship, an adult that happened to land on an incoming vessel, a long flight by the monarch itself, or some human intervention.

The second history is an unsavory one of baby farming. An infant was placed in the care of someone because of the needs of the parents. Some parents could not care for the baby at all; some needed care allowing them to work and provide for their family. The history goes that some of these children were then "adopted" out by these caretakers for monetary gain. as per the author's note, "Sadly, it was a lucrative and flourishing business in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, general in the larger cities."

The fictional story flows back and forth seamlessly between the two time periods once I sort through all the characters and who belongs in which timeline. While I originally chose the book because of the title and cover about butterflies, I invest in both the histories told and the stories woven around the history. 

The element of mystery adds to the story. Why is Verity chosen for this task? Where does the dress come from? What exactly is the Treadwell Foundation? How does Theodora's story connect to Verity's?

The setting and the descriptions of the landscape, the river, and the homes add to the story as well, making it a very visual story. This, perhaps, even more than the story itself, will stick with me.

This is the first book I have read by Tea Cooper. I look forward to reading more.

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Let Us Descend

Title:  Let Us Descend

Author:  Jesmyn Ward

Publication Information:  Scribner. 2023. 320 pages.

ISBN:  198210449X / 978-1982104498

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:   ★★★

Opening Sentence:  "The first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand."

Favorite Quote:  "I am the weapon."

I have loved Jesmyn Ward's fiction and nonfiction work ever since I was introduced to it through a book club reading Men We Reaped. She was born in California, raised in Mississippi, and now is a professor of creative writing at Tulane. She is the winner of the National Book Award in Fiction and of the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship. Her books tell compelling, emotional stories. In fiction and nonfiction, Jesmyn Ward contributes to an important conversation and a history that must be remembered.

Several of Jesmyn Ward's prior books tell the story and history of Mississippi - of slavery, of poverty, of racial inequity, of social justice. This book takes that story from the Carolinas to the New Orleans slave market to a plantation in the heart of Louisiana.

This is the story of Annis, who is born to a white slaveholder father and an enslaved Black mother. She is sold to destinations unknown. This book is her perilous and tragic journey.

Yet, this is also the story of endurance and of generations of women who have survived and whose strength descends through the generations. Annis has the memories - the ones she has experienced and those which are passed down through stories and have become equally real. As Annis is ripped from her mother and sold, these memories appears as actual beings that Annis can see and communicate with. It becomes a physical manifestation of her grief and the love that has been mercilessly torn from her. Annis's experiences and her memories of multiple ancestors also emphasize the reminder that this trauma descends down from generation to generation, all the way to the current times.

The repeated lesson of this book is self-reliance, resilience, and the focus on fighting for yourself:

• "In this world, you your own weapon."
• "I am the weapon."
• "Every day I woke, I spared myself."
• "Fight for it all."
• "You your own weapon... Remember."

Annis's manifestations of those memories and the strength they give her bring an element of spiritual / magical realism to this book. The writing itself gives these elements of the book a poetic quality. At times, that makes the book a challenge to follow and stay immersed in. For me, this lessens the intensity of the book as compared to the Jesmyn Ward's other books. Nevertheless, it tells an important story, and I will likely still always read what she writes next.

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The Black Angels

Title:  The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis

Author:  Maria Smilios

Publication Information:  G.P. Putnam's Sons. 2023. 448 pages.

ISBN:  0593544927 / 978-0593544921

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Every morning Virginia Allen wakes and feels the weight of the hours moving."

Favorite Quote:  "They did it because it was their job, because they had committed themselves to saving lives, at the risk of their own. But also because they were Black women, subjects of the Jim Crow labor laws that offered them few options."

In 1951, the cure for tuberculosis was tested successfully at Sea View Hospital in Staten Island. This book is the history of the nurses involved in that endeavor and in the care of the tuberculosis patients at the hospital. From the author's notes: "All the accounts and scenes in the book - including quotes, thoughts, and reactions - are used on oral reports, which have been corroborated by a wealth of material: newspapers, journals, letters, memoirs, marriage and death certificates, draft cards, medical records, autopsy books, nurses' logs and medicine books, hospital publications, yearbooks, previous interviews, and any other material the librarians could dig up."

The "black" angels is a reference to race. Most, if not all, the nurses were black. The why of that has its history in the Jim Crow South. Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease. Patients were often isolated in dedicated sanitarium hospitals. Caring for these patients brought with the daily risk of exposure and illness. As such, many who had the choice left the jobs to care for these patients, creating a severe nursing shortage. The hospitals turned to the South, advertising jobs that included room, board, training, a nursing license, and a small salary as compensation take on this risky job.

Many young women of color saw this as an escape from the Jim Crow South and as an opportunity to create a better life. This book recounts the history of these women and the world altering research that their work and dedication made possible.

The book is not just about the hospital and the medical advances. It also tells of the life of the women as they faced the challenges of their jobs and the challenges of continued discrimination and hostility even in Staten Island. Ultimately, it is the inspiring lesson of their strength and endurance.

The term "black angels" was supposedly coined by the hospital patients for they saw the color of the skin and they saw the care that these "angels" brought to them.

Virginia Allen, age 93, is the last alive of the black angels. The author conducted extensive interviews with Dr. Allen and learned of others from her to write this book. "Soon, a rich and vibrant history began to unfold, one that placed the nurses at the center of the TB story and set them against a backdrop of larger themes: Jim Crow, the Great Migration, systemic and institutional racism, front-line labor in a public health emergency, disease and the science of vaccines, and the desire to live a free and meaningful life - the impetus for so many of the nurses and the heartbeat of their narrative." An inspiring history.

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The Women

Title:  The Women

Author:  Kristin Hannah

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2024. 480 pages.

ISBN:  1250178630 / 978-1250178633

Rating:   ★★★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The walled and gated McGrath estate was a world onto itself, protected and private."

Favorite Quote:  "We were the last believers, my generation. We trusted what our parents taught us about myth of equality and justice and honor. I wonder if any generation will ever believe again. People will say it was the war that shattered our lives and laid bare the beautiful lie we'd been taught. And they'd be right. And wrong. There was so much more. It's hard to see clearly when the world is angry and divided and you're being lied to."

I love Kristin Hannah's writing for the focus it brings on strong female characters set in a historical context. Many of her books center around World War II. The Four Winds brought us to the depression era. The Great Alone travelled to Alaska. This book brings us to the Vietnam War.

Vietnam. The very word conjures up images of our nation's history, of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, of those who came home only to find that home had changed, of those who still to this day may receive the honor and services they need as veterans of United States Armed Forces.

Until this book, however, I  have not seen much of the history of or read any stories of the women who served in Vietnam. According to a note in the book, "According to the Vietnam Women's Memories Foundation statement, approximately 10,000 American military women were stations in Vietnam during the war." However, the history and even the veteran services now do not highlight the women.

This book tells the story of the women through Frankie McGrath's eyes. She volunteers for the Army Nurse Corp. The book follows Frankie through the events that lead her to volunteer, the tours of duty she serves, her return, and the challenges of her life after the war as a veteran.  As with other Kristin Hannah books, the one covers a lot of ground, incorporating a multitude of challenges and issued faced by these women - as women, as soldiers, as survivors, and as veterans.

Through Frankie's eyes, we travel the same path:

• "War looked one way for those who saw it from a safe distance. Close up, the view was different."
• "You survived a day at a time, however, you could."
• "Some things don't bear the weight of words."
• "And there it was: remembrance mattered She knew that now; there was no looking away from ware or from the past, no soldiering on through pain.. It started here. Now By speaking  up, standing in the sunlight, coming together, demanding honesty and truth. Taking pride. The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn't ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there."

The book is emotional as you might expect. Frankie's voice resonates through the entire story. I find myself looking up the history that authenticates the story told. This book is not a conversation about the right or the wrong of the Vietnam War. It is rather the story of those who served when called upon by their county. "I'm starting to wonder about it myself. But can't they support the warriors and hate the war. Our men are dying every day in service of their country. Doesn't that matter anymore." Frankie is a memorable character telling a memorable story.

To all the warriors... Thank you for your service.

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