Loss takes on many forms and changes characters, none more so than in this wonderful novel. A family grieving, all separately, move to Maria's old family home to prepare it for selling. But Maria didn't reckon on Davina, known locally and fondly as the 'River Witch" living in a cabin at the edge of her land seemingly with Maria's late grandfather's permission. Battle lines are drawn with tragic consequences. Can the two women overcome their loss and grief to work forward.
This is an ideal book to remind us all that money and possessions are not the most important things. Sometimes the simplest things in life give the most pleasure. Beyond that is also a sense of love and community as the town rally around Davina in her time of need.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union publishing for the opportunity to read this advanced copy

Suzanne Redfearn has written a beautiful story about a family, and a military veteran who have both suffered traumatic loss.

The Egrides family have lost a child, one of their twin daughters. Now, they are struggling to move on with their remaining two daughters and son.

In an effort to move forward, they decide that moving to a new house will be a fresh change. However, first they must sell an old family home in upstate NY.
When they arrive at the house in order to do repairs, they discover a women living in a shack on their property. She is known as The Witch. Horribly disfigured by an IED explosion, she lives as a recluse, but as a trained nurse, she is also a beloved midwife.
Now she is being evicted due to the pending sale of the property.

The struggles of loss and love loom large in this story. Despite being adversaries, a bond forms between the two parties.

I enjoyed this book as it struck a chord in my heart.
Anyone who has lost a loved one or suffered a tragic injury will appreciate the possibilities of life proceeding in a new direction.
Thank you NetGalley and
Lake Union Publishers for the ARC in return for my honest review.

After a tragic accident, the Egide family escapes to New Hampshire to Marie’s late grandfather’s house. They plan to fix everything up to sell it. Once on the property the children run into the “river witch” , Davina, who is living in a cabin on their property. Davina is a veteran war nurse who had severe injuries and has PTSD.

The story is beautiful written and is about hope, healing, forgiveness and acceptance. It was wonderful to see how the family interacts with Davina, the town and among themselves. I was totally engrossed in the story.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Suzanne Redfearn for the arc copy.

WHERE BUTTERFLIES WANDER
BY: SUZANNE REDFEARN

About 3.75 Stars!

My main interest in reading ":Where Butterflies Wander," Suzanne Redfearn's, newest novel is because I thought that the premise sounded intriguing with depth. I was disappointed that the grief lacked authenticity and the depth of grief I expected to feel by reading such a sad story was never completely developed. My biggest reason for deciding to read this was because of how much I LOVED this author's novel called, "IN AN INSTANT." Now that novel blew me away and I would consider it to be a top lifetime favorite especially after I read her chilling Author's Note at the end. Her inspiration and thoughts of what she explored with her raising the questions that she shared was a wake up call to me. It was such a powerful and unforgettable subject that it literally was something I had never considered before, but her message was something I've never forgotten. The reason why it was so important is because my two sons were still young enough for me to be having the responsibilities in deciding who I allowed them to stay with. I blindly allowed them to stay overnight with whoever invited them and their requests of wanting to spend their time with their friends. In most cases I already knew the parents of their friend that I allowed them to spend time away from home with. After reading "In an Instant," I certainly asked the question that she raised. I was hoping to be moved emotionally to the same degree with, "WHERE BUTTERFLIES WANDER," and this novel failed to jolt me to the same degree as her former one did.

That novel was a hard act to follow and I thought after reading the synopsis of this one that it would be as impressive and sadly it just wasn't. Considering that the family lost a loved one, specifically an eight year old twin daughter. I didn't feel that the degree of grief was felt as acutely as it would in reality. I was expecting the family's loss to be explored with more powerful expressed emotion since it was such a recent occurrence, and it just simply wasn't. The absence of the family's character development in that area lacked authenticity in my humble opinion. The hardest thing in life for most parents is the loss of a child. The eight year old twin daughter had died approximately two months earlier in this novel and they didn't act like a family would typically act with the blow life dealt them in such a short amount of time. That kind of loss would be so devastating that they would have all had been experiencing would be unimaginably painful and except for the anger I witnessed in Marie and the twelve year old son was the only symptom that appeared off about them. Leo who was Marie's husband didn't appear to be upset the way anybody who has had children would be. He was not sad at all and if anything was acting like he had moved on with life. I thought of Marie as an angry person who had the energy to fight with Davina and I'm just going to repeat it. The whole family didn't appear as I would expect them to act in their reaction to a loss so recent with their attitude and saying they must move on. I don't know too many people who would have moved on with their lives in such a short amount of time the way this family did after the child's death.

Their focus of buying a new home and selling their inherited one by fixing it up was a significant point that I'm trying to make. Who could make that such a priority with such a recent loss of a loved one? Marie does. She is the mother of the remaining three children and the wife of Leo and had an unbelievable amount of energy that she channeled into everything that she was able to accomplish towards moving so soon was just not credible to me. I don't believe a mother would be capable of everything that Marie did after the death of her eight year old child. The whole family was unbelievably ready to move on so soon and displayed that they felt that by fixing up and selling her grandfather's home in New Hampshire as fast as they were able to do would be tough to do in their circumstances. In completing the sale of the house in New Hampshire it would supposedly give them a geographical cure. I do give this author credit for her writing dialogue in Hannah's character who disputes this idea as being ludicrous to solve their grief. Marie's actions towards such a huge loss in her mind and her twelve year old son's mind was to take out their anger on Davina. It does make me wonder if her unsympathetic treatment of the woman who was living by the river on their property in a cabin and who was so kind to everyone, was. Marie's way of dealing with her grief that made her come across as self centered and cold. Her twelve year old son had quite a bit to feel guilty about and he seemed to express his anger towards Davina, also by calling her a witch and siding with his mother. His addiction to video games could be his way of escaping his enormous guilt and not dealing with his inner pain. Perhaps Hannah's chronic head aches were caused by repressed grief since her cheerful persona was expressed by siding with Davina and not her mother. I sided with Davina and felt that she went out of her way to help everybody without any expectations of being compensated. Penelope or as she's referred to in the novel as Pen saw her twin sister in the appearances of butterflies as they fluttered through the flowers especially in Davina's garden. Pen also saw her dead twin's presence seeing birds was beautiful imagery to me. I did think that Pen acted much older than her age of eight and that aspect didn't reflect reality either. I think that I will stick by my instincts and stop trying to justify them by trying to analyse the family's symptoms and how unrealistic they are.

I actually felt very bad for the " river witch,"as she is unkindly referred to because she had a name just like every one of us and it was Davina Lister. From the synopsis it sounded like she was difficult, but she was a lovable character who suffered from PTSD, physically and emotionally scarred from the burns that disfigured her face. One of the questions asked at the end of the book was to ask myself if I have ever known someone disfigured and was I able to see past that and view them for who they were? My answer to that question is an easy one to both which is: yes and yes. I always look for the goodness in people and how they treat me. I am a firm believer that someone's real beauty lies within their actions. When I was younger I had a boyfriend who had a leg amputated from a car accident and I never gave it a second thought. I was able to care deeply about him at the time and I never thought him to be different in any way. When I think back about him I forgot all about him wearing a prosthetic leg until this book asked me the question. I remember thinking he was attractive and his having lost a leg wasn't ever a conscious thought when I met him.

In summary I did like this story and could see both Marie and Davina's positions although it is
much more complex. I ended up admiring Davina's personality more than Marie's until Marie did get more likable towards the end. I liked how this author cleverly developed the plot to raise the issue of how money is seen by Marie to be more important than honoring her grandfather's wishes. How money is thought to be more important than Davina's position. How money is going to be the cure to heal this family and the path to them moving on in their lives from an unthinkable tragedy. I'll just say that a family moves into a home to fix it up and sell it using the proceeds to buy a bigger home in a fancier suburb to escape the memories of their profound loss thinking that their new and fancier home is going to be the catalyst towards helping them heal. Maybe it would but we take our situations with us wherever we go. There's an old saying that goes something like this: Wherever we go, there we are. Upon arriving at the inherited house they discover Davina who is also known as the "river witch," who has a small cabin down by the river. She has lived there for the last 22 years. When Marie learns of Davina's presence her reaction is anger towards Davina along with her son. Davina tells Marie that Marie's grandfather told Davina that she is welcome to live on the property for as long as she wants. Davina has made this place her home and has no place else to go. When Marie learns about Davina she doesn't want Davina living there because she won't be able to sell her grandfather's house which she was counting on the money to move to a bigger fancier house in a more prestigious town. Marie never stops and thinks about Davina's feelings and isn't capable of seeing beyond her own mission. The rest of her family likes Davina and don't want her to be evicted from her home. They don't care about moving to a better home and seem to realize it won't erase the pain. Except Marie's twelve year old son who also reacts with anger and is directing it at Davina. Marie's husband and two daughters don't want Davina to be evicted, because they like her. Marie takes Davina to court with her angry twelve year old son at her side. Battle lines are drawn and a division of alliances resulting with much bigger implications that arrive and were never expected.

I would still recommend giving this one a try because it's a well written story written with love and compassion in some of the character development. It is an allegorical tale full of hope and it ultimately leads to bringing out the best in people. It illuminates that life is never black and white and therein lies that life is the gray area in between. I have a feeling that the fault lies with me for not giving this a higher rating. I had high expectations from my reading experience of when I read "IN An INSTANT." I was hoping for this to have delivered the same impact that was so powerful that it was life changing. It had me reconsider decisions in ways that I'll never forget. It still haunts me and one that I would read again. This had some lovely writing and many phrases that I highlighted that conveyed beauty. I thought that the grief wasn't emotionally credible with how in two months time that this family would have been not likely to act as healed as they were. Unless their grief was carried in physical manifestations. Their is no right or wrong way to grieve. Every one has their own way of working through their grief. I just feel on an instinctual level that this family which is evident with their character development through their words and actions, wouldn't all be doing so well after such a tragic loss especially an eight year old child. That being said this was strong writing and I liked some of the characters even though they didn't seem real in their ability to move on so quickly as though they hadn't experienced such a horrific loss and act like they were magically healed. .

Publication Date: February 6, 2020

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for generously providing me with my wonderful eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#WhereButterfliesWander #SuzanneRedfearn #LakeUnionPublishing #NetGalley

Thank you Net Galley, Lake Union Publishing and Suzanne Redfearn for the opportunity to read Where Butterflies Wander. I was immediately engrossed in the story, characters and emotional heartbreak in this wonderful novel. I couldn't put it down! The characters were well developed and I could identify with their personalities and decisions they made. My only drawback in the storyline came late in the plot. No spoilers but too much happened too quickly without much detail or explanation. I so enjoyed the beginning pace but more and more was added and I felt it was rushed and unnecessary. I wanted more about Davina and her witchy vibes but that was forgotten by the end. This was a great read and I will definitely recommend it.

Thanks to LakeUnion and Amazon Publishing for this copy of "Where Butterflies Wander".

Marie, one of the main characters, is told that there are always two sides to every story. But when people are grieving, hurting, and feeling guilty, it's easy to forget that and lash out in anger, even when help is offered.

It's a beautiful story of healing and redemption and learning to forgive others and yourself.

This book did not click with me. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. There were way too many characters and that made it a bit difficult to keep track of who is who. The different viewpoints disrupted the reading flow for me. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me.

Marie thought moving her family to New Hampshire might help with their grief over the death of her daughter but it's not that easy. Davina, a veteran known locally as the River Witch claims she has a right to live forever more I'm a cabin on the property - a claim not backed in writing but which makes it almost impossible to sell the property. This is told by Marie, her husband, her two surviving daughters and Davina and not all of them agree on pretty much anything. This is all about love. loss and moving through grief.

A beautiful story about loss, hope, forgiveness and love. Ms. Redfearn never disappoints and this story is one that will stay with me for a long time.

A beautiful story about grief and carrying on even in after the most tragic of times. Wonderful characters and pace. I read it in two days.

4.5 stars-rounding up to 5
What a beautiful story, what beautiful writing. This author sure knows how to tell a story and make it feel like I was right there with these characters feeling every emotion. How this author shines such a perfect light on grief and guilt and moving on…perfection.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars-I feel like it could have been wrapped up a little better. I wanted a little more of a “perfect” ending for this poor family-for this poor woman-who gave all been through so much.

Intelligent writing. I don't where to start but this book suprised me a lot. You described how you felt by words and I imagined everything by heart.

The sadness lingers. The grief and loss, the rage that I felt. The anger and miscommunication. This is absolutely a masterpiece. This is by far the most wonderful story I've read about life. I cried and laugh at the same time. Too relatable to handle. Unputdownable!

Where Butterfles Wander by Suzanne Redfearn is a beautiful story about family, friendship, pain, (physical and emotional) loss, revenge, redemption, yet most of all about the healing power of love.
Marie and Leo are a loving affluent couple, and up to two months prior to the story beginning were leading a loving and idyllic life with their fifteen year old daughter, Hannah, twelve year old son Brendon, and eight year old twins, Penelope (Pen) and Phoebe (Bee). Tragedy struck when Phoebe drowns in the family pool Each family member is devastated and grieving in their own individual way.
They plan to spend the summer months preparing Marie's grandfather's home for sale in Franklin, New Hampshire. Marie had been very close to her granfather, Colonel Polster, as a child, yet her family became estranged from him years before his death, a fact she regretted.
Davina Lister, a severely injured veteran of the Afghanistan War has been living in a cabin on the Colonel's property for over 20 years at his invitation and with the promise she could remain there as long as she wished. The only impediment to this, there was nothing in writing to substantiate his promise. Part of Davina's face had been blown off during the war, yet despite almost dying multiple times and surviving over 60 surgeries, she was able to live a quiet, relatively happy life as a midwife and herbalist until Marie announces she must vacate her home.
I could share so much more, as there are subplots running through this story that provide insight to all that subsequently happens. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend for anyone who enjoys family stories or women's fiction. My only criticism is that the thoughts shared by Pen and Brendon seemed too mature for children their age, however I enjoyed the book so much it was only a minor concern.
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an opportunity to read an ARC of Where Butterfles Wander; their generosity in no way influenced my review.

A family loses one of their twin daughters and want to move away from their pain of living in the house she died at. The mom has an inherited property but it needs fixed up before they can sell it and move on to a fancy new neighborhood.

The problem is there is someone living there in a small cabin. Davina is a war veteran who was injured and now she is considered the river witch. She does not want to leave.

This book takes each character and makes you see their side and their feelings and I got really attached to them.

This book was just one of those perfect books to read while cuddled up on the couch with a blanket.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Contemporary

The Egide family flees to a New Hampshire estate in search of solace after the death of a member of their family. While there, they face a mysterious "river witch" and discover some shocking secrets.

The river witch, Davina, has an eerie affinity for the natural world and says Marie's grandpa gave her the cabin as a gift. The situation escalates into a tense standoff. Evicting Davina is something that Marie is motivated to do because she wants to sell the estate and move on with her life. Hannah and Pen, her two teenage daughters, have different perspectives on the matter.

Pen is wary of Davina's peculiar behavior, while Hannah sees a kindred spirit in the woman who is shunned by society. Secrets start to come to light as tensions grow. The standoff intensifies between the two parties until the whole thing comes to a satisfying resolution. Both parties will find themselves facing their own insecurities, pain, and disturbing pasts.

The narrative is thought-provoking, and the premise as a whole does not have complete black-and-white areas. There are no bad guys in this story, only those individuals who view things from their unique points of view. As a reader, this will make you judge the characters’ certain actions without being overly critical of their bigger motive.

The story is beautifully written, and the characters are fleshed out. The only drawback for me is that the narration is in “own voice” and from six characters’ perspectives. When a story needs to be told from multiple points of view, I prefer the narration to be in a third-person style. This is something that pertains to my individual preferences, and if you are okay with such a structure, it should not have any impact on the enjoyment you get out of everything. The chapters are relatively brief, which means that you can read them in a concise amount of time.

“Only when you lose the desire for the things that don’t matter do you start to have fun.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced reader copy of this book.

I love everything about this book. I have enjoyed this author's books in the past so I was looking forward to reading this one. The characters have so much depth. They are all likeable. No part of this book was slow or boring. It grabs your attention and runs with it until the end. I love the characters in this book and I was sad when it ended. Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I'll recommend it to all my book friends.

After a tragic accident in her family, Marie Egide thinks a fresh start is what they need, she knows the perfect place, her late grandfather’s house in Merrimack County, in New Hampshire. Marie, her husband Leo, son Brendon and daughters Hannah and Penelope and dog Banjo set of for their adventure, the plan is to spend the summer at the house, tidy it up for sale and move to Farmington.

Marie’s preparations go out the window when she discovers Divina Lister, a return army veteran is living in a cabin on her land and the locals call her “the river witch”, she claims Marie's grandfather told her she could live there for as long as she wants and Davina refuses to leave. Marie gets fixated on her rights, she and Leo have been working hard and paying the rates and taxes on the place for years and Davina has nothing in writing to back up her claim. Battle lines are drawn, and town’s residents become involved and the situation gets extremely tense.

When a fire starts in timberland and it triggers a train of events and both women have to face the pain of their pasts, it's the only way to move forward, they have more in common than they think and will they call a truce to the hostilities?

I received a copy of Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn from Lake Union Publishing and in exchange for an honest review. The narrative looks relevant topics and it makes you think what you would do in situation the two main characters Marie and Davina find themselves in. The message I got from reading the narrative is doing one bad thing doesn’t make a you a bad person, you need to learn from your mistakes and get help to cope with the loss of a loved one or PTSD and you can't escape grief.

I found it sweet how Pen believed her sister Phoebe's spirit lived on in butterflies and she found comfort in speaking to her every day and how can such a young girl be so wise. Four stars from me, perfect choice for readers who enjoy books by Catherine Ryan Hyde and both authors have a similar emotional style of writing.

This was a story that gave me a different perspective on things. Both while reading it and after I had finished it. After I finished reading it, different things came to me, and when they did, it showed me what I didn't see while reading the story.
Many times it was just a couple of words, and it would take me back to the story. I say now, there is so much more to the story than meets the eyes. My eyes were reading the book, but my brain was capturing things, that I was missing.
Sometimes you are so busy with all that is going on, you don't see what is right in front of you. It takes things happening to bring you back to your family, seeing the changes that have been happening, and trying to figure out what to do. This book was so much more than I expected.
I received an ARC from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley

Many thanks to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for a review.
What a beautiful moving warm read. Sometimes times we need to be reminded that beauty is not just what we see with our eyes.
A family struggling with grief, Marie and her husband are desperate to have a fresh start for themselves and their 3 remaining children, a tragic accident lost them one of their twin daughters.
Davina is a war veteran, her scars are very visible, she is known as the river witch and lives on a cabin on Marie’’s family land. The children come across her and they quickly see past her scars, are eager to learn from her, to accept her wide knowledge and potions. Marie and Davina clash, which leads to a fire which destroys Davina’s home. Marie’s husband helps to put out the fire and suffers severe burns to his hands which gives him sone insight into the pain Davina must have suffered In the past. The children’s dog gets injured, Davina helps even though the family have been making her life difficult and causing herself another injury.
I loved all the characters, I loved how wrong doing can be put right, how amends can be made and how enemies can become friends.
Congratulations to this author on another wonderful book.

I have read and enjoyed all Suzanne Redfearn's books and this is no exception. They are always complex reads, often told from numerous viewpoints as is the case in Where Butterflies Wander. It does take a little time to settle into the narrative and get comfortable with the characters but once there the experience is pure pleasure. The author doesn't shy away from difficult topics in this book including the death of a child, broken families, severe war injuries, the prioritizing of money over all else, to name but a few. An excellent 5* read I am happy to recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.