The Butterfly House

The Butterfly House tells the story of four women, drawn together--and parted--by fate. Roberta "Bobbie" Lee is in second grade when she meets beautiful, exotic Cincy Jaines at school. The two girls quickly discover they have something in common: they are both being raised by their mothers and have absent fathers. The young girls become immediate friends, nicknaming each other Sarsparilla and Rapunzel, and Bobbie finds herself spending most of her waking hours--and many of her sleeping ones--at Rockhaven, the home of Cincy and her mother Lenora, who is a lepidopterist and raises butterflies on her sunporch. Bobbie is quickly drawn into Lenora's exotic world, and she begins to love Lenora as if she were her own mother. Bobbie's real mother, Ruth, is a depressed alcoholic, a confused woman who mistakes Bobbie's relationship with Lenora as something lurid and taboo. As Cincy and Bobbie get older, their friendship gradually changes, culminating in a single night that will change the lives of all four women forever. With the unexpected arrival of a "familiar" stranger on her doorstep, 25-year-old Roberta Dutreau is thrust back into the events of ten years ago and is forced to make some difficult decisions that could once again change the course of her life.

Marcia Preston tackles difficult issues in The Butterfly House, her first offering to the world of women's fiction. With clear, startlingly honest and powerful prose, Preston paints a world of love and jealousy, betrayal and revenge, lies and truth, life and death. The novel is a heartbreaking account of the sometimes complicated relationships between women and the importance of such connections in every woman's life. The things we do can change us forever; the relationships we forge can change us forever; how we react in the face of our choices can change us forever. The four women in this novel are beautifully developed and layered characters, so believable they almost seem real. When I reached the end of this novel, I cried; it is one of those stories I know will stay with me for a long time. Welcome to your new genre, Ms. Preston...write more, and quickly! I would also recommend White Oleander, by Janet Fitch, for people who enjoyed this novel; that novel, too, is a powerful account of how our relationships with other women can change us.

I found Butterfly House to be a powerful story that captured me in the first few pages and didn't let me go until I closed the book. The characters are hauntingly real, warts and all. Preston's transition from the past--Bobbi Lee's childhood and the people and events that shaped her--to the present and Roberta's adult world, is seamless. Each switch spun me to a place in the story that either deepened the mystery or added to the drama. And, the change in voice from story-telling third person to first person present tense, was masterfully done. Preston brilliantly weaves together strands of love, loyalty, family, secrets, and self-discovery into an intriguing story written in prose I found rich enough to savor. If you are looking for a book that's hard to put down, one that when you finish the last page you say, "wow!" then I recommend Butterfly House. You are in for a literary treat.

Words I find myself using to describe the characters in this book are, appropriately, often said in connection to butterflies: beautiful, delicate, lovely, fragile - transformation, metamorphosis, amazing journey.

This is the kind of book that awes me with the writing process because it is so difficult to believe that Bobbie Lee, Cynthia, Ruth, and Lenora are figments of the imagination rather than flesh-and-bone human beings; they seem so real, so complex, so exquisitely flawed.

An earlier reviewer described this as a story that would make the reader say "Wow," and that is exactly what I said after I read the last page and, quite regretfully, closed the book. Wow.

If I had to compare to better known authors, two of my favorites come to mind: Barbara Kingsolver and Elizabeth Berg. If you are a fan of their work, I KNOW you'll love "The Butterfly House."

This is hands-down one of the best works of women's fiction I have ever read. For me, it ranks right up there with THE COLOR PURPLE and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE. A very touching story of turbulent-yet-close relationship between two young girls and the events that swirl around them. Beautifully written and executed. Also has an element of mystery. I definitely recommend this book highly---you will stay up late to finish it!!!

I was looking forward to the release of ms. preston's new book and i was not disappointed. it was a radical departure from her first two novels but the story was wonderful as i did not put it down until the end. i just hope we do not have to wait very long for the next one. thanks for a great story.