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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