Growing up and figuring out who you are has never been easy. It’s the early 1950s, and following her husband’s death in WWII, Leandra’s mama yanks her off the family’s Appalachian farm to fulfill her personal dream to live in a big city.

Leandra, only thirteen years old, learns that survival is best accomplished by pushing aside her country identity to fit into city life.

After high school graduation her rich city boyfriend makes plans to start college while she struggles to find work and juggle family issues. Mama turns to alcohol to ease her disappointment with her new husband, while Leandra is left to look after her little brother burdened with troubles of his own.

In time she discovers she doesn’t belong in the big city or the country. As her Appalachian ways call her to heart, drawing her back to Mamaw, Papaw, the butterfly bush, and home, she must follow her journey to the end. But what her journey reveals will remain both a mystery and surprise–especially to Leandra.

My Review

I loved Leandra as a character. I felt every sympathy for her living a life that is totally out of my experience. It’s the early 1950s, just before I was born, and Leandra is still a child. Her father was killed in the war and she lives with his parents, whom she calls Papaw and Mamaw, and her mama. She has a little brother Ray, who is a bit ‘slow’.

Everything is fine until mama starts dating, and finally decides to marry Roger, and move with him to New York. The children are understandably devastated. They don’t want to leave their grandparents, their home or the butterfly bush which means so much to them.

Life is very different in the city, and it takes a while for Leandra to get used to it, but she makes friends with some girls at school, an Italian boy named Sal, their neighbour Mrs Scuderi and of course the boys who are not averse to her looks.

But for Ray it’s another matter. Sent to a Catholic school, he struggles with every aspect. He finds anything academic beyond him and is bullied and told he is stupid. Ray’s story is so sad, as no-one apart from Leandra seems to understand his unhappiness. Nowadays, he would be sent to a specialist school, where he could be helped and encouraged, but things were very different then.

So much of Leandra’s life is sad, with her alcoholic mama, her troubled brother who she has to take care of, and the dreadful Roger. I think I would have taken Ray and gone home to Mamaw and Papaw. There is so little light in the darkness and things only get worse. I just hope Leandra finds her happiness in Book Two.

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #TheButterflyBush blog tour.

Author bio 

Josephine DeFalco loves to tell a good tale. With three adult children and their children, a multitude of pets and wild things in her life, she finds ample material for her stories. A degreed dietitian, she worked in public health and wrote for Arizona Woman Magazine for ten years, before returning to college to become a registered nurse and EMT. She will rescue anything with fur, feathers, or skin as long as it promises not to bite. That includes humans. Jo divides her time between an urban farm in Arizona and a rural farm in Wisconsin, growing much of the food her family eats. This resulted in two books on food preservation which supports her drive to teach others food gardening, health and nutrition. Her Facebook page, BestLittleOrganicFarm, is filled with photos, stories, and information on gardening. Born and raised in Arizona, the southwest desert inspired her first historical novel, The Nightbird’s Song, reflecting on the hardships of the early desert settlers. Her first series includes The Butterfly Bush and The Butterfly’s Secret, revealing her deep respect for the Appalachian families that inspired her stories.

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