A dual timeline book with twists and turns.
Interesting characters whose lives weave together in tricky ways! Pay close attention to keep track of all the details.
In Morpeth in 1868 Theodora Breckenridge discovers a butterfly which may be a first sighting ever in Australia. Her sisters cannot persuade her to travel to Sydney with them as they go to seek husbands. She stays at home and with the help of Clarrie, a maid, attempts to gain proof of her sighting. However when Clarrie's baby goes missing their lives take a very dramatic turn.

In Sydney Verity Banks wishes to be a reporter but it is 1922 and she has to leave her job to make way for men returning from the war. On the lookout for stories to write to try and gain herself recognition, she stumbles across a mystery involving adopted babies which seems to have great relevance to her own family history.


My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

In Victorian Sydney, Theodora has no intention of looking for a husband. She’s an artist and a scientist and is thrilled to discover an unknown butterfly. She’s ready to take the world of science by storm, until the baby belonging to her maid and good friend, Claire, disappears. Fifty years later, Verity Banks gets a commission to write a story about the Treadwell Foundation, a group that supposedly took in unwed mothers; but Verity uncovers the dark secrets behind the foundation and what happened almost fifty years before

The Butterfly Collector is a historical novel by Australian author, Tea Cooper. The audio version is narrated by Emily Barrett. In 1922, Verity Binks loses her job as a stenographer at The Sydney Arrow, in favour of returned servicemen. Her boss does offer to consider her freelance articles for printing. On the same day, a costume, mask and ticket to the Sydney Artists’ Ball arrive from a mystery sender.

As the daughter of the late War Correspondent, Charles Binks, she is introduced to Mr Treadwell, whose mother began the Treadwell Foundation, for which he wants some positive publicity to attract funds. It sounds like a worthwhile organisation, providing support and care for unmarried mothers, but he seems reticent about his mother’s background, and Verity’s journalistic interest is piqued.

In Morpeth, in 1868, Clarrie loses her job as maid-of-all-work when Rev. Lodestar discovers she is pregnant. Her beau, Sid Binks has promised to take care of her, and finds a midwife who will allow Verity to leave the baby in her care and find work. Sid works at The Morpeth Want as a compositor, but lives in quarters with other “Want” men, quite unsuitable for a mother and baby. His boss, though, Redmond Kendall is an understanding man and he has an idea…

After a period of bereavement for their parents and brother, Theodora Breckenridge’s sisters are focussed on re-entering the social scene in Sydney. As a nature illustrator, she would much rather stay in Morpeth, helping ready the garden for winter and looking out for the amazing butterfly she’s spotted once only, apparently never before seen in Australia.

Verity research involves a trip to Morpeth, where she meets the current Want editor, Arlo Kendall, and from the archives and further investigation, she manages to uncover a shocking racket involving the adoption of illegitimate babies, something she’s determined to expose. And when she discovers a personal connection, it solidifies her resolve.

This dual timeline story is told by Clarrie, Theodora and Redmond in the mid-nineteenth Century, and by Verity and Arlo in the early twentieth Century. The depth of Cooper’s research is apparent on every page and her descriptive prose is very evocative: the sights, sounds and smells of both inner-city Sydney and the Australian bush are particularly well-rendered. There are some dramatic scenes and the element of mystery will keep the reader enthralled through to the final pages of this superb Australian historical fiction.
This unbiased review is from an audio copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Muse

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and Ms Copper for providing a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Emily Barrett (which is not a version listed on goodreads).

There was way too much going on in this novel to be a coherent story. The description summary is intriguing but I found the plot and aaaalllll the sub-plots to be overly contrived. Sure, it's fiction and that everything is inter-connected... but those ties weren't very deep. Overall, this book was disappointing. I suppose, "baby farming" is a controversial topic but what did you expect in the 19th and early 20th centuries when birth control wasn't readily available?