A great dual time novel that let me travel to Australia and experience the wonderful discovery of Monarch butterflies in the land down under.
The writing was beautifully descriptive and I was immersed in both time lines. Such interesting details of The Wanderer butterfly and its habitat.
Equally intriguing was the journey Verity takes in 1922 to discover her family history and a disturbing, immoral practice that led to new laws being enacted. Strong, sensitive heroines in both times were helping women to be seen as contributing to society and breaking out of conventioal roles. The characters were flawed, realistic and relatable.
There is much to learn from historical fiction and this author does it so well, blending real circumstances with believable fictional people.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher though NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper is a wonderful novel full of rich historical insight, and detail. This highly descriptive story seamlessly blends together two different timeliness with very engaging characters. This book brought me in immediately and kept me until the satisfying ending. This is my favorite Tea Cooper book, and believe me, that's saying something.

Overall: A unique story with an 1800s Australian setting, tying in butterflies, art, and a missing baby.

Characters: Such Victorian names! It was a little confusing at times because they names felt so similar to me, but I felt so immersed in this story world with how authentic the names were.

Atmosphere: I really enjoyed the time period of this book - I haven’t read a book set in the 1800s. The Australia setting was great and made the story super unique.

Writing Style: The long chapters were great to be immersed into this story and I enjoyed the multiple POVs

Plot: Such interesting historical context - I wasn’t sure how everything would tie together, but Tea made it work. I couldn’t believe the historical roots either.

Intrigue: to be honest, a little hard for me to stay engaged with

Logic: probably because I struggled with intrigue, I should have taken notes on the logic

Enjoyment: the latter half of the story was the most exciting in my opinion. So much going on and coming together. I liked the slow burn but this could probably have been a bit shorter

What a fascinating story! This was the first Tea Cooper story for me but it will not be the last. The historical Australian countryside comes to life in full colour under the skillful pen of Tea Cooper. The characters quickly pull the reader into a story that covers 2 different timelines. But bizarre situations and connections keep pulling the storylines together. With the true nose of a seasoned reporter, questions and unexplained events rise to the surface to entice the reader to flip just a few more pages and find out what is going on. Both timelines face loss, danger. love, and the chance to move forward with grace and truth. It was easy to get lost in the story, flying through Australia on a bicycle or crossing the river in an old boat. Or "seeing" a beautiful butterfly come to life in the pages of a book. I loved every minute of budding romance, was saddened by loss for both timelines, and cheered when the reporters got their story. I love when I can learn along with the entertainment in the story. This book opened a historical truth that I had never heard much about. But I have gained knowledge through the amazing research Tea Cooper did, and want to learn more. The questions and hunt for truth lasted until the very end, keeping the story clipping along until it was time to say goodbye. I look forward to the next Tea Cooper book and the adventure and history it brings to life. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A beautiful work of historical fiction that is set in Australia and pursues dual timelines with one being set around exposing the tragic practice of baby selling/stealing of children from poor women through deception with the thought the children would be in better circumstances. . Although I enjoy dual timelines that an author masterfully intersects, which Cooper does, I wonder if these two stories would actually have made two amazing books of their own. Wonderful read! If you like strong female characters and historical fiction with a twist of mystery, I think this book is worth your time! Highly recommend and am thankful I had the opportunity to read the galley from NetGalley.

There’s a butterfly effect in chaos theory. You know the one, or at least the way it plays out in fiction, particularly in relation to time travel, that a tiny change halfway around the world creates incrementally increasing changes in circumstances the further one gets from that first new flap of the titular butterfly’s wings.

That butterfly effect turns out to be a metaphor for this entire story – complete with resultant chaos – even though there’s no time travel in the usual sense. There’s just a story that takes place at multiple points in the same time stream, with a particularly well-traveled species of butterfly at the heart of each of those multiple points.

The monarch butterfly is a familiar sight in North America. But when and where this story begins, it was not, which is tied up in the very reason why the familiar Monarch is called Wanderer in Australia – because it somehow managed to wander from North America to the Land Down Under, a journey far longer than a butterfly’s lifespan, even if a colony could manage that distance out of sight of land on their beautiful but fragile wings.

So we first meet amateur lepidopterist Theodora Breckenridge when a then unknown to her wanderer butterfly alights on her fingers in 1868 outside the village of Morpeth on the banks of the Hunter River. In New South Wales, Australia. Where no monarch butterfly has EVER been seen to that date.

Just laid-off newspaper reporter Verity Binks’ introduction to the same species occurs in 1922, in the form of a masquerade costume for the upcoming Sydney Artists’ Masquerade Ball. She receives a package from an unnamed and un-guessed at benefactor, consisting of an invitation to the Artists’ Ball she could not otherwise afford – and a caped costume in the shape and form of a wanderer butterfly’s distinctive wings.

The link between Theodora in 1868 and Verity in 1922 is in the person of a third woman, Clarrie, and an unthinkably terrible but murderously profitable criminal enterprise that still cries out for justice.

A justice that Verity is determined to provide, whoever it hurts and whatever it costs.

Escape Rating B: I have to say that I ended up with mixed feelings all over the place while listening to and reading The Butterfly Collector. In the end, the 1922 story carried me through, but it’s the 1868 story that held the most bone-chilling horrors. Real-life horror, like revenge, is compellingly served ice cold – and the horrors of this story, based on real historical events – had plenty of chills to deliver.

I had two issues with this story, and the first one led to the second in a way that made the first half a fairly hard go for reasons that are certainly a ‘me’ problem but could also be a ‘you’ problem if we have some of the same inclinations.

One of the issues I’m finding increasingly hard to get through in female-centered historical fiction of any kind is the ubiquitous and nearly obligatory opening third – if not a bit longer – that details all the restrictions that women faced in whatever period the story is set in regards to having agency and independence. As this book alternates between three historical female perspectives, each of whom are hedged about by such restrictions on all sides, it took a lot of pages to get each of them into places where they had some freedom of movement.

In the end, I found myself following Verity’s part of the story in 1922 the most easily because Verity IS in a position to act on her own for reasons that are mostly tragic. Her parents and grandparents are deceased, she has no male siblings, it’s after WW1 which cost her her job as a newspaper reporter but doesn’t stop her from finding freelance work, which she does and which kicks off the mystery of the piece.

Neither Theodora nor Clarrie have true freedom of movement, Theodora for societal expectation reasons and Clarrie because of restrictions due to her socioeconomic class. That they are able to help each other eases those constraints for both of them, but it takes a while for the situation to reach that far.

That I was frustrated by the slow pace of the early parts of all their stories led to my second frustration. I began this book in audio, but the story was going slowly for all the above reasons and the actually quite good quality of the narration made it worse. Which may seem contradictory, but as the reader was doing an excellent job with the Australian accent – or so it seemed to my American ears – her reading cadence was slower than I could stand in a story that was already proceeding at a snail’s pace.

Once I switched to text it all got better, and I was able to finally be captured by the increasingly frenetic pace of the mystery of it all. Not just a terrible crime, but decades of a profitable series of terrible crimes come to light and sticks a knife into Verity’s heart AND her perceptions of her family’s history in a way that makes the whole story both sing and sting at the same time.

I picked this book up because I fell hard for several of the author’s previous books, The Woman in the Green Dress, The Cartographer’s Secret and The Girl in the Painting. While The Butterfly Collector didn’t work nearly as well for me as those earlier books, the heart of the mystery is both awfully compelling and compellingly awful, and it did engage me fully once the story really got into it. So while I’d recommend this particular book with some caveats, I’ll still be picking up the author’s next book, The Talented Mrs Greenway, when it reaches these North American shores.

“The Butterfly Collector” by Tia Cooper is a historical novel set in Australia and is set in two timelines: 1868 and 1922. Verity Binks, a journalist in danger of losing her job to make room for the men returning after WWI, is mysteriously given tickets to a masked ball. She meets a person there who asks her to write a history of his family’s charity, and hoping to save her career, she takes on the task. But that leads her to a horrible scandal—the buying and selling of babies.

While I liked the premise of the story, the way the two different timelines were portrayed was a bit jarring for me. I would have liked to have read the story that took place in 1868 or in 1922. But I felt they didn’t blend together well. Nonetheless, the story dealt with a very sad time in history when women’s reproductive rights, particularly concerning unmarried women, were taken away from them.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book. My opinion is my own.

Set in 1868, Morpeth and 1922, Sydney , The Butterfly Collector is a mystery woven into historical fictional setting. Theodora is an artist who discovered a new butterfly in Australia, while looking for proof of her discovery she befriends Clarrie, her maid who recently had a baby.

Verity Binks is a journalist in the making when she is brought into the mystery by an anonymous invitation to a costume ball. Verity is compelled to unravel the story and follow all leads.

Romance and mystery intertwine into a compelling story, making this a must read novel by [author:Tea Cooper|6586621].

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review.

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper

With the Great War ending and soldiers returning home to Australia, reporter Verity Binks is not entirely surprised to be given notice at the Sydney newspaper where she works. Not being surprised doesn’t mean not being upset, however. While her editor has promised to pay her stringer’s rates for any article she can bring him in going forward, losing the stability of a staff job is still a significant blow.

So when she gets an unusual invitation to attend the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball, she doesn’t think twice about accepting. Frankly, she can take or leave the prospect of hobnobbing with her city’s elite. What really draws her in is the unique perspective that attending will give her in reporting on Sydney’s premier social event, back with a vengeance after the war understandably postponed it for several years.

Along with the anonymous invitation is a gift:

QUOTE
Beneath the next layer of tissue, a silken haze danced: bright orange edged in black, a row of white dots accentuating the outline. She shook it free and held it high. It hung from a choker-like collar and draped down to two points like folded wings. She picked up either side of the cape. The wings spread, revealing wrist straps.

She fastened the shimmering silk around her neck and tucked her hands inside the loops, raised her arms, then lowered them. The wings fluttered like a bird preparing for flight. Her reflection stared back at her from the darkened window. No, not a bird–a butterfly.
END QUOTE

Cloaked in the extravagant costume,Verity soon finds herself participating in the revels. A masked troubadour leads her to David Treadwell, the head of an eponymous charitable foundation dedicated to aiding young women in distress. Treadwell would love to publicize the history of his family’s foundation, but Verity quickly realizes that something strange is afoot, and that it might have to do with her own family’s somewhat murky past.

In parallel chapters set almost fifty years earlier, young Theodora Breckenridge wants only to be left in peace on her family estate in Morpeth so that she can concentrate on painting her beloved watercolors. Her preferred subject is the natural world, and she’s been corresponding regularly with celebrated botanical artists Harriet and Helena Scott on the subject. When she spots a butterfly she’s never seen before, she quickly realizes that she might actually be the first person in all Australia to have found this specimen in the wild:

QUOTE
A shimmer of russet disrupted the shadows. Tiptoeing forward, Theodora pointed to a clump of paperbark trees. Huddled together to preserve warmth, hundreds of butterflies clustered on the trunks and branches–a mass of autumn leaves flickering and shimmering in the shafts of sunlight. [...]

The cluster rippled, then the first butterfly took wing and the next and the next. Starting as a stream, the cascade grew. The sound of their beating wings magnified like a waterfall and the air above became orange, blotting out the bright autumn sky.

Almost swooning, Theodora stood rooted to the spot.
END QUOTE

But Theodora’s search for the butterfly leads her to stumble across a terrible conspiracy, one whose repercussions will resonate over the decades till a young reporter named Verity unwittingly digs up the case once more. Will both women, separated by time, be able to fight for what’s right and make sure justice is served, no matter the cost?

This was a beautifully detailed historical mystery that deftly captures two very different periods in Australia’s past. Theodora and Verity’s individual struggles for self-determination are uncomfortably similar despite the progress allegedly made in the intervening years, as is the insidiousness of the crime they both end up investigating. Based on very real murders and political struggles, The Butterfly Collector is a meticulously detailed comparison that fully immerses readers in both eras.

As a 21st century American, it was also fascinating to see how things we regard as commonplace are considered exotic and novel through the lens of both distance and time. The Wanderer butterfly, as it’s called in the book, is such a part of our culture today that my kids were learning about it in their first few years of grade school. Seeing it treated as a rarity is both a radical shift in perspective as well as a valuable reminder that just a few short years ago this butterfly was considered endangered in North America, too. It's lovely to read of one small creature’s wider ranging impact, especially when as lovingly detailed as in this novel.

Interesting read but a bit confusing in the plotting. There are two timelines in this historical fiction – one set in 1868 and another in 1922 – connected by a mystery. In 1868, Theodora Breckenridge wishes nothing more than to be left alone to draw and live in seclusion where she feels safe. She spots a colorful butterfly and, because of her interest in the flora and fauna of her home, recognizes it’s something unusual. She sets out to draw and identify it.

In 1922, Verity Banks wants to be a newspaper reporter like her father but is constantly pushed to puff pieces more suitable for women to write. Then she is let go so her job is available for the men returning from the war, as was common at this time. She seeks an exciting story that will help her get her job back. In the midst of this, a costume mysteriously arrives at her home – a beautiful butterfly costume – along with an invitation to a prestigious masquerade ball.

The story hinges around the seedy business of stealing and selling babies from poor and young women, a sad and fascinating topic.

The author weaves the two stories together, each interesting enough to be their own novel. Together, they didn’t quite come together. I found myself taken out of the story a few times thinking the author overcomplicated the plot.

I’m a fan of Tea Cooper’s books and enjoy her writing and richly described settings. This one didn’t quite measure up to the others. I’d recommend The Woman in the Green Dress and The Girl in the Painting before this one, and will continue to read the other books by this author.

This is the first time I've read anything by this author. I was intrigued by the cover but disappointed by the lack of substance regarding butterflies. It touched on it occasionally throughout the story, but it wasn't a main focus like I expected. Really, the main focus of the story was baby farming or selling babies in Australia during the late 1800's and early 1900's in a dual storyline. Overall, I enjoyed the book but there were a lot of characters to keep track of and it was a little tedious at times. Verity is a likable character in 1922 who loses her newspaper job solely because she's a woman and those jobs need to be given to men returning from the war. She's given a task to write about a foundation that supports girls who find themselves "unexpectedly" pregnant but must dig deeper when more nefarious information comes to light. Theodora is the one who is interested in butterflies, and she lives in 1868. She is the odd duck in her family. Her family is wealthy, but her parents and brother die in a boating accident, and she must forge her own way against her sisters' wishes. When a single, pregnant woman comes to work in her home, she discovers all about baby farming also!
The characters are all likeable but there is a lot going on in the dual timeline and then the ending is rushed, and I felt a lot of questions went unanswered. I felt kind of a letdown when I finished the book like the author didn't quite wrap things up but instead took too much time in the middle where things dragged

Theodora Breckenridge wants only to discover and study butterflies, especially the elusive Monarch butterfly which has not been seen in Australia. Excellent historical detail and intriguing characters makes this an amazing read and is recommended.

I realized I’d read no historical fiction books this year, and remembered I was given an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book on NetGalley.

I have avoided historical fiction this year because it tends to be HEAVY and I had enough of that in my life.

I am SO GLAD I READ THIS. This is a mesmerizing story that is part mystery, part love story, part sweeping family epic.

Set in 1922 Sydney and 1868 Morpeth, Australia, I loved how the connections in the story came together quickly. Often with HF, you are left wondering how the stories will come together. In The Butterfly Collector, you start making connections very early on, which made it even more enthralling for me. The true mystery then was wondering HOW and WHY these figures would come to be connected.

In 1922 we meet Verity Binks, a writer who is invited to a ball by a mystery guest and asked to write an article about the Treadwell Foundation.

In 1868 we meet Clarrie, an unwed, pregnant woman (scandal!) who needs to find a job and a home for her baby.

We also meet Theodora Breckenridge, an orphaned artist who has no desire to re-enter society along with her three older sisters who are intent to move on with their lives.

I highly recommend this book. It was an easy read that hooked me with its mix of mystery and lightheartedness. You will ask yourself what you are willing to do, accept, or hide for the people you love. It was just released on 11/28/23, so go grab a copy!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

1868, Morpeth Twenty-one year old Theodora has spent the last two years of her life in mourning over the death of her parents and brother at sea. While she grieves their loss, this time in solitude hasn't been all that dismal for her. Preferring an introverted life where she can improve upon her art, Theodora has been reveling in this time at home. Theodora finds inspiration from the well-respected Scott sisters, who are making a name for themselves as flora and fauna illustrators. At a shocking chance in the garden, she spots a butterfly that has never before been seen in Australia. This is her first opportunity to finally make a name for herself and contribute to the world of science. Through the help of her maid and friend, Theodora aims to earn the credit for her discovery.

1922, Sydney: Twenty-five year old aspiring journalist Verity Binks has just been let go from her position. Now that WWI is over and men are returning, many employers are no longer interested in keeping the woman who filled these positions while they were gone. While she's downtrodden and unsure of how to keep up payments, she suddenly receives a mysterious package. There's a beautiful monarch costume and an invitation to a coveted masquerade ball. While at the ball, she is approached by a Mr. Treadwell who wishes her to write a book on the history of the Treadwell Foundation. As Verity begins to unravel Treadwell Foundation's past, she discovers a shady background that seems to go back more than fifty years. The Treadwell foundation and family have been covering up what's been really going on, but can Verity get this information out and stop them from continuing to hide the truth?

While the story starts out promising, it fell a little flat for me due to the length. I didn't necessarily connect with the mystery of the book and I think that was hard for me to stay into this one. The title also doesn't fit well with the topic as it's not really about butterflies at all, regardless that the author tries to weave it in where she can. This book is much more about the oppression of woman and how society uses that oppression to pull of corrupt misdeeds.

Two timelines blended together and rich in historical detail. Well written with engaging characters.
Many thanks to Harper Muse and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A slow start. I had a hard time staying interested - but just don't give up. The book eventually picked up, the mystery became clear and seemed to rush to the conclusion. Good storyline - just overly descriptive - adding to the length and slow build.

There is something about Tea Cooper’s writing that makes you unable to put her books down, even when your eyes get sore like mine did reading, The Butterfly Collector!

1868 Morpeth: In mourning for the loss of her parents and brother at sea, Theodora Breckenridge is content working on her art at family’s country estate. With the help of her maid, Clarrie, Theodora discovers a butterfly never before seen in Australia. But when Clarrie’s son goes missing, everything changes.

1922 Sydney: Verity Binks feels her dream of being a journalist slipping away when she loses her job writing for The Arrow, but an exclusive invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball and an anonymous parcel containing a butterfly costume, provide her with an intriguing writing job that sets her off on an unexpected path to find answers.

Theodora, Clarrie, and Verity are all strong women who know what they want and will stop at nothing to get it, whether that is capturing an elusive butterfly, looking after their child in the most difficult of circumstances, or excavating the past to unearth a fifty year old mystery.

This book ticked so many boxes for me. I love reading about artists and botany. I cannot get enough of Australia history and Tea Cooper does a great job of incorporating historical events into her books.

If you haven’t read any of Tea Cooper’s books and you enjoy historical fiction with a thrilling mystery at its heart, and strong female characters, look no further!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to Harper Muse for providing me with a copy of this book through NetGalley I could not possibly have been more excited when I got approved for this one!

I truly enjoy learning something of Australia's history through Tea Cooper's historical fiction. Of course I appreciate her historical notes at the end which help me to separate fact from fiction. The Butterfly Collector is a dual timeline story that centers around the horrible but lucrative baby farming business in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As Verity Binks, a fledgling journalist, researches a well known charity that assists unwed, expectant mothers, she stumbles across the long running existence of a baby farming operation originating in the town of Morpeth. Further exploration revealed her own family's connections, both past and present.

The Butterfly Collector is a clean work of fiction that deals with a difficult reality. I believe this well-written, sensitive story will appeal to readers of Christian and secular historical fiction. Even though it does not include a Christian element, it but does have a strong theme of social justice. Cooper skillfully unfolds the story of Verity's family maximizing reader engagement with the story and encouraging bonding with the story's characters.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Butterfly Collector from Harper Muse via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

I always love a Tea Cooper novel. There is always a hint of fact with fiction that will swirls around my mind that sends me down a google rabbit hole. The Australian setting always entices, and the description and details seals the deal. The wind blowing off the river, the rich dirt of the garden scented with the tang of herbs and flowers, the tiniest details of the butterflies, made me feel right at home. The tug of the mystery, the enter twinning of families, and the truth that had my mouth drop. I loved the dual timeline that had me ticking off who knew who and how they played into the mystery.

Verity Binks is a woman who is determined to make it as a reporter. She is beyond her time in 1922, Sydney. But her grandparents and father set her up to believe in herself. Verity receives an invitation that sets this entire story tumbling. Who sent her the invitation and why? As the pieces begin to fall into place, she is whisked back to Morpeth where her grandparents story begins. She is more determined than ever to bring justice to the people who destroyed people's lives for over 70 years. The back and forth between Verity and her grandmother in 1868 will have you taking notes and wondering what happened to baby Charlie and why.

I devoured this book. It is a perfect read if you want to armchair travel to Australia. As are all her books. The writing is suburb and the mystery fantastic. Thank you to Tea Cooper and Harper Muse for my copy of this incredible read.

The links in this story were tenuous. An illustration of a butterfly, a missing baby (thankfully found) and
a mystery that lay unsolved. To add to the interest two time lines the early 1800s and 1922 Sydney. Both links involved feisty, courageous women. The women were not afraid to stand out against restrictive rules and they worked the system in their favor in whatever way they could.

The two individual stories were complicated. The earlier one was about Carrie and Sid and their earlier life which included their missing son and the baby racket that went on in Morpeth. Since big names were involved the story was not discussed or published. In the latter story Verity discovered the story and despite pressure from above got justice for the mothers whose children were given without their consent.

The story is not an unusual one - baby farms existed in every place but the cruelty of its practice because very few voluntarily gave up their children. The fact that it was highlighted at the end is a good ending because for some it could end in a reunion (which it did in this story).