The Butterfly Collector
Tea Cooper
Reviewed by Helen
I loved this story so very much, from start to finish Tea Cooper took me on a journey back in two time lines, to follow the story of a twisty historical mystery involving gorgeous butterflies and wonderful characters that I loved, come along for the fascinating trip, you will not want to put this one down.
1869 Morpeth which is a small river town close to The Hunter Valley, Theodora Breckenridge is in morning after loss her parents and older brother in a ship wreck, but her three sisters decide it is time to make a trip to Sydney but Theodora is much happier staying at home and working on her research about butterflies and do her painting, she is very excited about discovering a butterfly that has never been seen in Australia and is determined find out much more about it. Hiring a new maid Clarrie to help at home is a bonus as they become close and Clarrie is a lot of help, but Clarrie has a baby who is being cared for by a local midwife and when he goes missing there are lots of questions that need answering. Will Sid the baby’s father find their son and uncover the truth?
1922 Sydney, Verity Binks has wanted to become a correspondent and follow in her father and grandfathers footsteps when she is sent a beautiful butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artist Masquerade Ball anonymously on the day she has just lost her job at The Sydney Arrow newspaper, this is a mystery but one that Verity is determined to get to the bottom of and arrives and meets Mr. Treadwell and is asked to write an article about the history of The Treadwell Foundation, an institute that supports and helps young girls in disgrace, or does it, what will Verity find when she digs deep a mystery that goes back more than fifty years with links to her past as well.
Tea Cooper has again researched so well and added fact and fiction together to bring her readers a brilliant story, a story that digs deep into the past and has Verity uncovering information about baby farming and Theodore finding the elusive Monarch butterfly, there is mystery, secrets and friendships all wound together to make this a compelling story that had me up late last night. I loved the characters Verity, Theodora, Clarrie and Sid and also Redmond and Arlo all were easy to get to know and made this story fabulous, my thanks MS Cooper for another keeper, this is one that I highly recommend.
My thanks to Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
1869 Morpeth which is a small river town close to The Hunter Valley, Theodora Breckenridge is in morning after loss her parents and older brother in a ship wreck, but her three sisters decide it is time to make a trip to Sydney but Theodora is much happier staying at home and working on her research about butterflies and do her painting, she is very excited about discovering a butterfly that has never been seen in Australia and is determined find out much more about it. Hiring a new maid Clarrie to help at home is a bonus as they become close and Clarrie is a lot of help, but Clarrie has a baby who is being cared for by a local midwife and when he goes missing there are lots of questions that need answering. Will Sid the baby’s father find their son and uncover the truth?
1922 Sydney, Verity Binks has wanted to become a correspondent and follow in her father and grandfathers footsteps when she is sent a beautiful butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artist Masquerade Ball anonymously on the day she has just lost her job at The Sydney Arrow newspaper, this is a mystery but one that Verity is determined to get to the bottom of and arrives and meets Mr. Treadwell and is asked to write an article about the history of The Treadwell Foundation, an institute that supports and helps young girls in disgrace, or does it, what will Verity find when she digs deep a mystery that goes back more than fifty years with links to her past as well.
Tea Cooper has again researched so well and added fact and fiction together to bring her readers a brilliant story, a story that digs deep into the past and has Verity uncovering information about baby farming and Theodore finding the elusive Monarch butterfly, there is mystery, secrets and friendships all wound together to make this a compelling story that had me up late last night. I loved the characters Verity, Theodora, Clarrie and Sid and also Redmond and Arlo all were easy to get to know and made this story fabulous, my thanks MS Cooper for another keeper, this is one that I highly recommend.
My thanks to Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
5 stars
November 3, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
