The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley

 

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan; Main Market edition (2 May 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1529014980
• ISBN-13: 978-1529014983

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonizing decision. Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it.

Then a face appears from the past – Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Already struggling to cope with her son Sam’s inept business dealings, and the sudden reappearance of her younger son Nick after ten years in Australia, Posy is reluctant to trust in Freddie’s renewed affection. And unbeknown to Posy, Freddie – and Admiral House – have a devastating secret to reveal . . .

 

Review

I have been a huge fan of Lucinda Riley for nearly ten years so I am always excited when she releases a new book.  The Butterfly Room is another huge hit for me, as with previous books it has a stunning plot that covers three generations and some wonderful characters that will tug a your heart strings.  This book covers Posy’s story in the present and with flashbacks to her childhood in the 1940’s to 1950’s.  The past and present collide for Posy when she has a chance meeting with Freddie, the man who broke her heart fifty years ago when she was at univesity, where he ended their relationship with no explanation.  But Freddie carries a secret from his and Posy’s past that could destroy her childhood memories at Admiral House with her father who died at the end of the war, and stop their relationship developing. This is a multi faceted read that centres on family and all the problems that can bring as well as love, secrets and living for the moment.

Lucinda Riley always writes characters that are memorable, identifiable and most of all loveable.  These qualities are all in Posy, who has led a varied, and a times hard life, which is why I loved her tenacity and positivity towards life.  She looses her beloved father at only seven years old, and as a result her mother when she went to live with her grandmother.  Loss seems to be a common denominator in life as she is left widowed with two young children after her return to Admiral House, the place where she was happiest with her father.  Still there at seventy she is considering selling as she can’t afford the upkeep, but she may have another chance of love with Freddie. For all Posy was my favourite character, her son Sam had to be my least favourite.  Sam always has some new business venture going on but never any money or success which he always blames on someone else. The person most effected by this is his long suffering wife Amy, and two young children, who manages to work and look after the children without much help from her husband. Amy is the other character I took to my heart, her love for her children, always trying to do the right thing and her loyalty to Sam were admiral qualities but she does deserve better.

Lucinda Riley’s writing is beautifully descriptive to bring the setting, characters and their  emotions to life. Admiral House, the gardens and Folly were vivd and bright in my mind; I felt I could have been in the garden with Posy.  The same attention is given to her characters, all jump off the page and are well rounded so they feel like people you know as the book progresses and you are invested in their lives.  Love in all its guises is a theme running through the book; love lost, new love, old love, familial love and most of all when it comes along grabbing it with both hands and enjoying it. There are some difficult subject matters dealt with including, bullying, domestic violence, alcoholism, and terminal illness.  All are dealt with great understanding and empathy, and without sensationalism, but show how they can effect those around them.

I loved reading The Butterfly Room, it is a stunning read that I was engrossed in and honestly couldn’t put down.  It has such a rollercoaster of emotions, from happy, to sad, shock to anger, as the characters and their stories developed. Full of surprises and twists this  book is an epic and spellbinding read about love, loss and the chance of a new beginning. Lucinda Riley has produced another stunning and sublime book, a perfect read.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.  Please share the boo love by sharing my review across social media by clicking one of the share buttons.

I would also like to thank Pan Macmillan for my copy of The Butterfly Room in return for an honest review.