Of Moths and Butterflies [Kindle Edition]

V.R. Christensen (Author), B. Lloyd (Illustrator)

Book Description

Archer Hamilton is a collector of rare and beautiful insects. Gina Shaw is a servant in his uncle’s house. Clearly out of place in the position in which she has been discovered, she becomes a source of fascination . . . and curiosity.

A girl with a blighted past and a fortune she deems a curse, Gina has lowered herself in order to find escape from her family and their scheming designs. But when she is found, the stakes suddenly become dire.

All Gina wants is the freedom to live her life as she would wish. All her aunts want is the money that comes with her. But there is more than one way to trap an insect. An arranged marriage might turn out profitable for more parties than one.

Mr. Hamilton is about to make the acquisition of a lifetime. But will the price be worth it? Can a woman captured and acquired learn to love the man who has bought her?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lovely, haunting story. The first paragraph drew me in and I could not stop. The author's writing is superb, like a river flowing through a beautiful landscape that is sometimes light, sometimes dark and threatening. A gorgeous book!"  ~ Susanne O'Leary, author of A Woman's Place and Swedish for Beginners

"V.R. Christensen's work reminds one of literature from the turn of the century, when masterful writers gave their characters emotional gestures and restrained dialogue. A tremendous accomplishment for a contemporary writer."  ~ Janie Bill, author

"What really makes this work is the author's understanding of social attitudes in the 19th century.  An enjoyable read!"  ~ N. Gemini Sasson, author of Isabeau: A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer and The Crown in the Heather, Worth Dying For and The Honor Due a King (The Bruce Trilogy)

"Poor Imogen, cursed with money. All the things that money does to a family, the paradoxes of having and not having, of how money ruins the best of intentions, and the author combines all this with writing of the highest quality."  ~ Jeff Blackmer, author of Draegnstoen and
Highland King (People of the Wall)

"What scandalous mystery, what delicately hinted corruption wrought behind closed doors! The dialogue flows effortlessly, drawing the reader into the times. Of Moths & Butterflies is masterful for its genre!" ~   Toby Neal, author of Blood Orchids

From the Author

For more about the author, visit vrchristensen.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1515 KB
• Print Length: 624 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 098469742X
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Captive Press (October 5, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005TA7SFQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,628 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical Romance November 7, 2011

By Ella

Format:Kindle Edition

Set in the late nineteenth century, this novel has a female protagonist trying to escape her past and monetary fortune, a very curious man, some over-friendly cousins, and a few greedy folk for good measure. An arranged marriage appears to ease our protagonist's troubles, but instead new problems arise everywhere.

I particularly liked how dialog heavy Christensen was in this novel. Christensen's dialog felt natural, restrained, characterized excellently, and smoothly flickers between intense and amusing. Though the novel was almost six hundred and fifty pages, it still felt like a light read from the interesting drama and dialog. In these pages there's a slow build up and shaping of the plot, and characters' interactions with one another.

However, I would have liked to see the protagonist humanized a little earlier, her light flaws become apparent rather late into the novel. Almost every other character loves her or hates her right upon meeting her, only towards the ending do we see other characters moving away from the extremes of feelings for her.

As a warning, there are references to past sexual abuse.

After reading the book, I found the author's blog post about it rather interesting and made me rethink themes of the book placed in contemporary times. Most interestingly, what happens if one goes into a marriage with absolutely no expectations?

I would heavily recommend this book to anyone looking for a dramatic romance, and furthermore I think this book would be lovely for fostering conversation at a bookclub meeting.

I received a free electronic copy of this book from the author via LibraryThing.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, very moving novel of Victorian Era February 21, 2012

By Mary L. Locke

Format:Kindle Edition

Of Moth and Butterflies is a beautifully written piece of historical fiction that firmly integrates the social and economic realities of gender and class in the late Victorian period in England into a story of mystery, suspense, and romance.

Imogen Everard, the heroine, struggles over and over to achieve some sort of independence, yet is thwarted time and again, like the insects captured and displayed in the specimen boxes of Archer Hamilton. Hamilton, himself, turns out to be equally caught by a web of family secrets and demands, and his own lack of courage to break free. Their stories, woven together as their fate begins to intertwine was very moving, and I really cared about the outcome.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the role of secondary characters, good and evil, particularly the humor that was revealed when the protagonists' dearest relatives and friends, Claire and Roger, finally meet. I strongly recommend to people who love the Victorian era; they will feel like they had a lovely visit to that time and place with this book.

M. Louisa Locke, author of Maids of Misfortune

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many loose ends for such a long book May 7, 2012

By Isabelle M

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Now that I have finished reading the book, this is an edited review of my post when I reached the 40% mark.

I have no complaints as far as the quality of the author's writing. At 648 pages for the print edition, it reads like a slow murmur - a soothing narrative, an opportunity to read for the pleasure of reading. However, its strength is often its weakness.

The first 2/5ths of the book is excrutiatingly slow paced and frustrating in the sense that it can be summarized in Imogen's determination to be miserable. She is supported by a handful of characters who basically enable her in her quest for martyrdom. When Imogen sits in the shade, she wishes she were in the sun. She moves to the sun to wish she were back in the shade. Over and over and over again.

As a 21st century analogy, imagine Imogen being that familiar facebook sort of friend who frequently updates her status with "worst day of my life", "I wish I could be happy" and then responds to comments such as "what's wrong?" or "this too shall pass" with frustratingly defeatist and self-pitying "I don't want to talk about it" or "I know". There's over 250 pages of this.

Making it worse is the author was obviously aware of her protagonist's course since several characters, even the "evil" ones point out her persistence to wallow in self-pity, yet she unsurprisingly responds by saying she can't help it. Oh well, at least she's consistent.

Fortunately Imogen gradually begins to make an effort and our secret wish that the novel turn into a murder mystery abates (Imogen being the victim). It could've been one way for this novel to go because the list of suspects would've been long, the reader being one of them. Commenters reading this might criticise me for my harsh judgement of Imogen. Maybe, considering her traumatic experiences already suffered at the start of the novel (not a spoiler, this is clear early on). What bothers me is the whiny, passive-aggressive, and final it's-true-love-if-he-jumps-through-many-many-many-hoops-and-then-you-get-over-it message of the novel. That's not how victims of abuse heal in real life. Besides, in the latter 3/5th of the novel, Imogen is more concerned about the fact that she is not a virgin to her husband rather than really overcoming legitimate abuse/exploitation issues. So if the author doesn't treat it as such, neither will I.

So! Now that Imogen finally sets on a path to happiness, the road is long and repetitive and brings us to a convoluted dénouement that leaves more questions than answers. On the hows and the whys, we must settle for the "evil" characters' trifle motives as to why they bothered making nuisances of themselves in the first place. These revelations occur in awkward dialogue that ring particularly unrealistic. People don't explain themselves by saying (paraphrasing) "I've done completely pointless and vindictive things all my life because I'm a bitter and insecure person". People don't talk like that, much less two men, much much less two 19th century men.

On the other hand, there are passages such as the build-up and act of a minor character's suicide that successfully conveys the character's despair. But then her death is followed with (paraphrasing) "so then they buried her and her son was sad". Wha'?! And there's a budding love sub-plot that threatened to pique my interest completely at Imogen's expense. But the apparently reluctant lovebirds leave the novel and we unfortunately cannot follow them.

Which brings me to my final point: other than Imogen and her true love, the author summarily disposes of every other character without a clue as to their fate or even provide any relative closure as to their purpose in the novel. She treats her themes pretty much in the same way; the characters and events barely tie-in with one another. One character outright vanishes when we last hear of him resting in a room upstairs. It's like a one year-old child's reality: out of sight = it no longer exists.

The End

"Meh"

More About the Author

V.R. Christensen is a lifelong student of English culture and history, and she draws upon a wide range of knowledge and experience to construct her work. Focusing on the age old struggles that have riddled the human spirit, her intensely emotional stories draw a parallel between our day and those of an age passed, illustrating that, while some things have changed utterly, many others have stayed remarkably the same.