"A beautiful and emotion tale of one woman's journey to self discovery"
The Butterfly's Daughter
Genres: Contemporary
Posted: August 15, 2011
Luz Avila is a young and vibrant Latina, raised from a young age by her beloved grandmother Esperanza in Milwaukee. All Luz can remember about her mother is that her name was Mariposa, Spanish for "butterfly." Known as the "Butterfly Lady" in their neighborhood, the beautiful creatures are very important to Esperanza and she teaches Luz the traditions and legends surrounding the gorgeous Monarch butterflies that she raises, including the fact that the Monarchs always return to a place near her childhood home in Mexico each year.
The two are planning a cross country road trip through San Antonio and on to Mexico when Esperanza unexpectedly dies. Luz decides to make the journey anyway and take her Abuela's ashes home. She takes the old, orange VW bug Abuela had purchased specifically for the trip and heads out, unknowingly following the migration path of the Monarch butterfly.
Meilleur Site Streaming
Luz's trip will soon prove to be an unexpected adventure, with twists at every turn of the road. During the journey, Luz meets pregnant Ofelia and her Chihuahua, Serena, in Chicago. After Ofelia is abused by her boyfriend, she hitches a ride with Luz to Kansas, with the idea of finding her mother. In Kansas, Luz meets Margaret, a middle-aged single woman who has always longed to leave her stale, boring life to track the Monarchs on their journey, so she joins Luz. In Oklahoma, Luz and Margaret meet Stacie, a lively, wandering soul who teaches them to embraces the surprises in life.
When Luz finally reaches her Tia Maria's home in San Antonia, she receives the surprise of her life -- her supposedly deceased mother is alive and well, and wants to meet her. As Luz continues the trip with Mariposa along, she learns more about herself, her mother's past, and the extended family she has longed to meet. But it's during the family's Day of the Dead celebration when Abuela's ashes are placed in the ancestral cemetery that all secrets are revealed, and Luz can finally be at peace with the events of her life that have brought her to the Sacred Circle, where generations of the women in her family have greeted the Monarch butterflies as they return home.
THE BUTTERFLY'S DAUGHTER by Mary Alice Monroe is a beautiful tale of a young woman's exploration and discovery, yet it turns out to be so much more than that. Monroe has deftly crafted a mesmerizing tale that weaves together the journey of the monarch butterfly with the transformation of a young woman, creating a heartwarming story that is emotional and fulfilling.
Monroe's character descriptions are realistic and each character has their own flaws, peculiarities, and beauty that give them depth and dimension. Each chapter of this story also includes a detail from the life of the Monarch butterfly, neatly tying the entire package together with satisfying results.
Book Summary
The legend of las mariposas — the beautiful monarch butterflies that every year fly more than two thousand miles on fragile wings to return to their winter home in Mexico — is Luz Avila’s birthright. She learned of their ways and their mystical powers from the grandmother who was the only family she ever knew. Now it is her turn, like the butterflies, to make that long, perilous journey. In order to honor a promise to her beloved abuela, Luz must return her grandmother’s ashes to her ancestral village in the mountains of Mexico. But while this ofrenda, a tradition so old its origins are lost in the mists of time, will mean leaving behind a man who loves Luz deeply, the journey promises to bring deep spiritual meaning to the life of a woman who cannot find her way into the future until she comes to terms with the past.
As Luz slowly makes her way south from blustery Milwaukee in a VW Bug so ancient it has no business on the highway, a series of seemingly random encounters touches her life: a desperate mother-to-be, even younger than her, fleeing an abusive lover. An anywhere-the-wind-blows free spirit. A lonely career woman who is determined to live, really live, for the first time. It is in San Antonio, however, that a truly startling revelation awaits Luz: a reunion with a shadowy figure from her childhood.
Together, they cross the border into Mexico, but they also must somehow cross the border that separates past from present, bitterness from love, and truth from lies. They will honor the memory of another beloved woman by standing in the Sacred Circle to witness the spectacular, glittering river of orange monarchs descend from the sky to return home. If they can share in this age-old ritual, perhaps they will be able to find their way back to love, and take their place in the enduring cycle of life.
Simon & Schuster
May 1, 2011
On Sale: May 3, 2011
Featuring: Luz Avila
400 pages
ISBN: 1439170614
EAN: 9781439170618
Hardcover