The Butterfly Room – Book Review

The Butterfly Room is a family drama set in Suffolk England that occasionally delves into two timelines (the 1940’s and 2006).

Posey, a widow, is the matriarch of the family at 70 years old and dotes on her two sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.  The story is fairly evenly balanced between being character driven versus plot driven.

While negotiating life’s twists and turns, Posey resides in a 300-year-old grand, although crumbling, country estate called Admiral House.  The many descriptions of the house and grounds made it a character of the book itself and I would be interested in reading a sequel were it to concentrate on the completed renovations of this manor house.

While the author raised some serious storylines (alcoholism, physical abuse), they were dealt with in a more light or superficial manner in which everything resolved itself quickly and easily; in other words, not very realistically.

I found the writing to be reminiscent of Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy – easy and enjoyable to read, entertaining but a bit “old fashioned” and where everything at the end is wrapped up in a nice, neat bow.

Thank you to Blue Box Press and Netgalley for providing a copy to me in exchange for a review.

3 stars out of 5