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.
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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.
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.
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