The Sound of Butterflies

Rachael King

It is 1903 and Thomas Edgar has returned from an expedition to the Amazon jungle, mute and broken; his young wife Sophie, is determined to discover why. This powerful and brutal story of obsession and corruption will slowly draw you in and ensnare you.

Extract

She crept into the aisle and began to inch towards him. Then he started to sway as he brought his hands up, clasped, to his chest. With his eyes still closed, he wore a rapturous expression. She had seen that look once before, in the forest, when he appeared to go into a trance. The same intense light appeared on his features, while he squatted like a child in the foul-smelling detritus of the forest floor, a butterfly ensnared by tweezers in one hand, his magnifying glass in the other.

Parallels