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The Butterfly Cabinet

by Bernie Mcgill (Goodreads Author)

3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 · rating details · 734 ratings · 180 reviews

Vivid, mysterious and unforgettable, The Butterfly Cabinet is Bernie McGills engrossing portrayal of the dark history that intertwines two lives. Inspired by a true story of the death of the daughter of an aristocratic Irish family at the end of the nineteenth century, McGill powerfully tells this tale of two women whose lives will become upended by a newly told secret.

Th...more Vivid, mysterious and unforgettable, The Butterfly Cabinet is Bernie McGills engrossing portrayal of the dark history that intertwines two lives. Inspired by a true story of the death of the daughter of an aristocratic Irish family at the end of the nineteenth century, McGill powerfully tells this tale of two women whose lives will become upended by a newly told secret.

The events begin when Maddie McGlade, a former nanny now in her nineties, receives a letter from the last of her charges and realizes that the time has come to unburden herself of a secret she has kept for over seventy years: what really happened on the last day in the life of Charlotte Ormond, the four-year-old only daughter of the big house where Maddie was employed as a young woman. It is to Charlottes would-be niece, Annapregnant with her firstthat Maddie will tell her story as she nears the end of her life in a lonely nursing home in Northern Ireland.

The book unfolds in chapters that alternate between Maddies story and the prison diaries of Charlottes mother, Harriet, who had been held responsible for her daughters death. As Maddie confesses the truth to Anna, she unravels the Ormonds complex family history, and also details her own life, marked by poverty, fear, sacrifice and lies. In stark contrast to Maddie is the misunderstood, haughty and yet surprisingly lyrical voice of Harriets prison diaries, which Maddie has kept hidden for decades. Motherhood came no more easily to Harriet than did her role as mistress of a far-flung Irish estate. Proud and uncompromising, she is passionate about riding horses and collecting butterflies to store in her prized cabinet. When her only daughter, Charlotte, dies, allegedly as the result of Harriets punitive actions, the community is quick to condemn her and send her to prison for the killing. Unwilling to stoop to defend herself and too absorbed in her own world of strict rules and repressed desires, she accepts the cruel destiny that is beyond her control even as, paradoxically, it sets her free.

The result of this unusual duet is a haunting novel full of frightening silences and sorrowful absences that build toward the unexpected, chilling truth.(less)

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published July 26th 2011 by Free Press (first published 2010)

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Jan 12, 2013 BRNTerri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found the story, the back and forth with Harriet and Maddie’s letters, a bit tedious and a bit uninteresting. I wondered where this story was heading and was disappointed. The ‘truth’ could have been so much bigger and better. I felt let down by it. Maddie, who was fifteen at the time, wasn’t responsible for anything. I wonder why the author put that in toward the end of the story. I think she wanted us to come up with our own opinion about that. I’m not sure I’d ever read this author again.

Th...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Sheena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A tragic and quite horrific tale of a Mother who kills one of her children by accident when teaching her a harsh disciplinary lesson. She is unable to show the love she feels for her children all seven of them (though the seventh is born in prison) and feels she must try to contain their exhuberance so they will be responsible adults. She thinks this is doing the best by them.Harriet is always awkward, strong willed and unable to fit into the role society or her parents (who seem to prefer her s...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gr-first-reads, historical-fiction, epistolary

The 1890's is well-detailed in snippets of flashbacks; back & forth between two women. What I liked best was that the women had distinct narrative voices. One is in her 90's thinking back to her time as a servant. The other voice is the sometimes lyrical prison diary of the lady of the house. There is an eeriness that comes from the latter's matter-of-fact, prettily-told tale of child-abuse. However, it was neither as scary, suspenseful, nor mysterious as the ominous cover hinted. Absorbing...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Michele Weiner rated it 3 of 5 stars

I normally give any book I finish at least three stars. This one, I would give 2.5. It's based on the true story of a woman who was sentenced to a year in prison following the death of her four-year-old daughter in 1892. In the imagination of Bernie Mcgill, the woman, named Harriet Ormond in the book, is unusually terse and tactless, fearless, wanting nothing more than freedom from expectations and relationships. She is unable to display emotion or to show love, though she enjoys sex with her hu...more I normally give any book I finish at least three stars. This one, I would give 2.5. It's based on the true story of a woman who was sentenced to a year in prison following the death of her four-year-old daughter in 1892. In the imagination of Bernie Mcgill, the woman, named Harriet Ormond in the book, is unusually terse and tactless, fearless, wanting nothing more than freedom from expectations and relationships. She is unable to display emotion or to show love, though she enjoys sex with her husband and has given birth to 9 children in 12 years, causing some gossip in her neighborhood. Her first seven children are boys, who are abused and abusing in their turn. Her eighth, Charlotte, is more troublesome to her perfectionist mother than all the boys together. She simply cannot be toilet trained, and she lives in her own imagination at times, so that her mother can't reach her. This infuriates Harriet, who often puts her in restraints in a cold and windowless room for hours at a time. Mom is a devotee of hunting foxes, riding horses for pleasure, and collecting butterflies. Half of the book is written from Harriet's perspective, from her jailhouse journal written in 1892. The other half is from the perspective of a servant girl, Nanny Madd, aka Maddie, from her sick bed in 1968.

The remainder of the review contains spoilers.

Harriot's spinster sister, Julia, and the servants are aware that Harriet abuses the kids, and try to help in small ways though Harriet forbids them from speaking to the children. Young maid Maddie is fond of Charlotte and risks the wrath of her mistress on several occasions to help the child. One day, Harriet ties Charlotte up for soiling her clothing, a common punishment. But this time she misplaces the key to the wardrobe room where Charlotte is confined. It is found by Maddie, who intends to bring water to Charlotte, but who is distracted by a sexual encounter with her best friend's husband. Meanwhile, Harriet wants to let Charlotte go, but can't find the key. She doesn't trouble herself too much about it, and when Maddie is through with the sex, she puts the key back where she found it and Harriet finds it where she suspected it was lost. But when she goes to get Charlotte, the child is dead, strangled by her restraints.

An inquest and then a trial ensues and Harriet is found guilty of abusing her children, and spends her year in jail, writing a journal in which she reveals her cold, cold heart. And finds out that she is not her father's daughter. She is the child of her mother's first love, thus explaining why Harriet has never felt part of her family of origin and why she is so different from her sister, Julia. Harriet has her ninth child, Florence, while in prison. Florence is removed almost immediately to be raised by Julia and Harriet's husband. Florence marries and has a child, Anna, whom she loves, but she dies young of consumption. Maddie's short-lived dalliance has resulted in a child, a boy who she leaves on the doorstep to be raised by her lover's wife. The boy later dies in WWII, but leaves a son behind, who eventually marries Florence's daughter, Anna. Anna is pregnant, and visits Maddie, now known as Nanny Madd at her nursing home to hear what Nanny as to tell her about her family.

Nanny has unfortunately dribbled the information out long before so that the reader is just dying for her to spit it out. There are no surprises by the time the beans are finally spilled. I looked up the NYTimes article about the case from 1892. It didn't give too much detail, and I plan to do some more looking to see if I can find a true account. The Butterfly Cabinet was totally unsatisfying and far to fake-philosophical for me.

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Mar 01, 2012 The Wee Hen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Who doesn't love a nice turn of the century story about child abuse? Somedays I look up from my reading for a moment and reflect on how grim it all is and how I can't find anything I like that isn't grim. Kate Morton is too fluffy for me. Yet somehow, Minette Walters makes me long for a warm sit by the aga. In any case, a dead child is the center of this story told alternately, by a housemaid and her employer. The employer being the wealthy, imperious, high-handed, titled mother of the child, so...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Jeanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book because it shocked me more than once and always kept me guessing. There are two narrators: Maddie, who is 92 at the time of her narration, and was a maid for a landowner for most of her life. Maddie is talking to Anna, who is the granddaughter of Harriet Ormond. Anna's mother was Harriet's last child (2nd girl) and was born while Harriet was incarcerated. As elderly people are wont to do, Maddie kind of talks in circles and goes off on different tangents--different memor...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Cheryl rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book starts with Anna writing to Maddie McGlade telling her that she is ready to hear Maddie’s story. Maddie was a former nanny to Anna. Before Anna, Maddie was a nanny to another little girl. Her name was Charlotte Ormond. Charlotte was just four years old when she died. Her mother, Harriet sits in prison for the murder of Charlotte. Both Maddie and Harriet share their sides of the story of the events leading up to Charlotte’s death.

I must admit that this is one of those books that sound b...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Patty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a haunting tale. This sad story is told in two voices; that of a nanny who used to work in the household and through the diaries of the mother of a child who died at the hands of her punishment. Harriet, the mother, is a woman who really never should have never had children and is married to man who is half a child himself. A product of their times, their status and their religion Harriet has a baby just about every year. She is shocked both that she enjoys what goes into creating the child...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Brenda Youngerman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I try SO hard not to write a book review from a personal point of view and be objective when posting. But I am making an exception in this case. We are taught at a very young age not to judge a book by its' cover, but the cover of this book is hauntingly beautiful and after reading the book it only becomes more so. It is so appropriate for the book. As an author I appreciate that!

I opened the book and had not read anything about it - not the press release Free Press had sent me, not the back, no...more

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May 09, 2013 Juls rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: with-a-cup-of-the

Meglio il titolo originale "The butterfly cabinet"
Mi sono lasciata fuorviare dalla trama nell'aletta e ho cercato per un terzo del libro il dipanarsi del mistero relativo alla morte di una bimba di quattro anni durante un terribile castigo impostole dalla madre.
Letto così, questo libro è un mistery piuttosto deludente.
Poi, finalmente, ho capito che il mistero non riguarda la tragedia della piccola Charlotte, dominata dalla banalità di una sfortunata concatenazione di fatti accidentali, ma rigu...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Philip rated it 3 of 5 stars

Didn't know anything about this book - hadn't even heard of it - until I chanced upon it while straightening the New Arrivals table in my store - it caught my attention (the brooding castle on the cover, perhaps) and when I read the flap and it told me that "The events begin when Maddie McGlade, a former nanny now in her nineties, receives a letter from the last of her charges and realizes that the time has come to unburden herself of a secret she has kept for over seventy years: what really hap...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Jennifer (JC-S) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: librarybooks

‘It’s hard to do, to tell one story when there are so many stories to tell.’

Ms McGill’s novel is based on a sad event. In 1892, an aristocratic woman punished her four year old daughter. The child strangled to death.

In this fictional version of the tragedy, the story moves between the prison diary of Lady Harriet Ormond as she serves time for her daughter Charlotte’s accidental death, and the memories of Maddie McGlade over seventy years later. The backdrop to each woman’s narrative is provided...more ‘It’s hard to do, to tell one story when there are so many stories to tell.’

Ms McGill’s novel is based on a sad event. In 1892, an aristocratic woman punished her four year old daughter. The child strangled to death.

In this fictional version of the tragedy, the story moves between the prison diary of Lady Harriet Ormond as she serves time for her daughter Charlotte’s accidental death, and the memories of Maddie McGlade over seventy years later. The backdrop to each woman’s narrative is provided by important moments in Irish history: the struggle for home rule for Harriet, the civil unrest of 1968-69 for Maddie. The alternating viewpoints, of events that are being recounted in 1892 by Lady Harriet Ormond and her contemporaneous reactions, and Maddie’s recollections some seventy years later make for interesting reading. Maddie is now in her nineties, and realises the time has come to share a secret (or two) that she has carried with her all this time. It is Anna she tells: the last of the children she cared for, and a granddaughter of Lady Harriet.

‘That’s what we do: tell made-up stories to fend off the night, to put off telling the truth.’

The voices of Maddie and Lady Harriet are very different, as are their circumstances and their views. Harriet and her husband have nine children in 12 years of marriage, Maddie starts work at Oranmore aged 14. Harriet yearns for the freedom to collect butterflies, while Maddie is immersed in the hard work and drudgery of housework. . Maddie has witnessed abuse of a number of the children and has, with the knowledge of Peig the housekeeper, reported the maltreatment to the Cruelty Society. To no avail.

But what is the story of the last day in the life of Charlotte Ormond? Charlotte is Lady Harriet’s only daughter and, at 4 years of age, one of her younger children. She is confined to a room (‘the Wardrobe Room’) for punishment by Lady Harriet and dies, after being left alone for hours. But there is another aspect to the tragedy as well, and it is Maddie’s to tell.

‘I told the solicitor the whole truth and nothing but the truth; I answered every question he asked me. But I didn’t give him the answers to the questions he didn’t ask.’

Because of Charlotte’s treatment and death, I found this a haunting and disturbing novel. But I admire the structure and the writing, and

I am still wondering about a couple of aspects.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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Sep 16, 2011 Diane S. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very intersting book. Told in alternate chapters from the mother in prison and one of the servants who was working in the house the day the child dies.Doesn't specifically answer how the child ended up dead byt gives one a pretty good idea of how is happened. Slow paced though but again it is an atmospheric Irish novel.

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Jul 24, 2011 Heffalumpi rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

The blurb on the back was good but the book just did not deliver. I considered not finishing it half way through but decided to perservere - I wish I hadn't, I could have read something much better.

The book was printed in fairly large print and double spaced lines, I guess then that I should have seen it coming that it was a padded out debut novel. The author could have done so much more with the story without all the unrelated, uninteresting drivel that took place between the pages. I did not c...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Stephanie Miss rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a fluke. I didn't plan on reading it but i was in desperate need of reading material after the genius "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. Let me tell you, ONE HELL OF A DIFFERENCE in literature .
The book it self was well written...sometimes. When the writing was good, it was good. But when it was bad, it was seriously bad. Several times, not even proper sentience structure was used, leaving me to frustratingly contemplate what either narrators were trying to say in an already un...more This book was a fluke. I didn't plan on reading it but i was in desperate need of reading material after the genius "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. Let me tell you, ONE HELL OF A DIFFERENCE in literature .
The book it self was well written...sometimes. When the writing was good, it was good. But when it was bad, it was seriously bad. Several times, not even proper sentience structure was used, leaving me to frustratingly contemplate what either narrators were trying to say in an already uneventful novel. It was so difficult to understand at times that as a result it made me very discouraged to continue reading this book to the end, even though only around 230 pages.
Another thing i disliked was the plot structure. I found it very weak and dull. Again, it was extremely hard to stay focused on this book and that, paired with the poor writing, i continuously found myself skimming over paragraphs, not really reading it. I wanted just to get through it and move on to another book. Also, i really felt no connection with anyone in the novel. It seemed like just linear jabber; no up or downs really made the story special or remotely entertaining. Eventually, when the climax finally hit it, well s**t really didn't hit the fan. It felt like a breeze just passing by and with that, the story was over with.
Likewise, the characters were pretty one dimensional. You know, the evilbecause of society, antagonist, the beautiful, innocent protagonists; Its stuff everyone has herd before. Unlike the reviews on the back of the book, it didn't really highlight "class struggles" of the late 19th century or the laws or child abuse or what ever she was trying to say. It really just was a constant bouncing facade of two woman talking about their lives on one situation.

If i had to describe this book in one word, i would easily describe it was colorless; The picture was there, but it lacks the paint that makes art full and beautiful. I mean, the writing had potential. It wasn't all bad for i found some thought-provoking quotes within it. But poor plot structure and character development failed greatly on the writer's part. As a result, i wouldn't recommend the read. Its an easily forgettable novel.(less)

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Jun 12, 2012 JoyAnne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Based on a true crime The Butterfly Cabinet is a haunting tale told through the mother's prison journal and the house maid's recollections. How sad that Harriet was not the mother she should've been, she didn't really know how to love (or care) for a child yet she had nine. Her parents never showed affection and that was all she knew.

Harriet's daughter is locked in a closet as punishment and dies. She is sentenced to prison for murder. McGill writes in a way that makes you feel compassion for th...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Terri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Metaphors abound in this book. Maybe too much. I found in my mind wandering when Harriet would go off on a tangent when I should have been paying attention. I am sure the butterflies were a metaphor but I couldn't quite place it.

I do not feel a murder took place; rather an accident based on one person's philosophy of child rearing, however harsh it may be. Harriet was clearly a distant mother, lacking outward affection. This was taught to her at an early age by her mother. She did, however, have...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Ariel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Bleh! I picked up in anticipation of a Gothic read. I loved the cover, turns out it was the best part of the book. The story is told in alternating chapters by Harriet, the lady of the house and Maddie the maid. By the time we meet Harriet, she is in prison for the murder of her daughter Charlotte. Harriet is real piece of work. She is kind of an Andrea Yates type character, too many kids, too soon, and she loses her mind. She was abused as a child, as told in a very nasty flashback with a corse...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story of a tragedy is told in two voices, a mother in prison and an elderly servant in a nursing home. It is not a fast moving book, but it has a fascinating look into life in the late 19th, early 20th centuries in northern Ireland.
The mother reflects on her life as it was before prison and while there through writing in a notebook. The butterflies she collected were, it seems, the most important things in her life, though she had nine children, a good husband, and wealth.
The servant, on...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Cindi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011...

It took me longer than I expected to read The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill. I had trouble getting into it and then I had trouble finishing it. I'm also having trouble finishing the review. This is my third and hopefully final attempt.

The Butterfly Cabinet is a novel based on a true crime in Ireland from the late 1800's. A child is locked in a closet as a punishment and dies. Her mother is sentenced to prison for...more

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May 27, 2012 Glenda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

The Butterfly Cabinet tells the eerie tale of two different women and one horrible event that ties them together forever. Maddie McGlade is a former nanny that is finally sharing her secrets from the past, telling her story to an old family friend. Alongside Maddie's memories is the prison journal of her former employer Harriet, who was sent to prison for the murder of her four year old daughter. Both stories intertwine to create this dark and haunting tale.
The storyline caught my attention at t...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While the topic is unpleasant, and the content is disturbing, it is at the same time, hauntingly beautifully written. Set in Ireland and narrated by two very different women, the reader is on emotional journey throughout the entire book. Is the type of book that I have trouble saying that I enjoyed, but I am glad that I read it .

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Aug 24, 2011 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Butterfly Cabinet tells the eerie tale of two different women and one horrible event that ties them together forever. Maddie McGlade is a former nanny that is just now sharing her secrets from the past and telling her story to an old family friend. Alongside Maddie's memories is the prison journal of her former employer Harriet, who was sent to prison for the murder of her four year old daughter. Both stories intertwine to create a mesmerizing tale that is both dark and haunting.

Wow! The aut...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Donna Radcliff rated it 4 of 5 stars

When the line between discipline and abuse becomes blurried....In 1892 Ireland a small child dies, alone and bound in a wardrobe. Her mother is convicted in her death and is sentanced to a year in prison. This eerie, haunting story (based on true events)is told in two voices: the prison diary of Harriet written in 1892, and the 1967 nursing home monologue by Maddie, who worked as young maid in the family home at the time of the death. Together these voices reveal what happened that awful day and...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Gayle rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an absolute jewel of a book, though the subject matter is difficult at times.
Two women, whose lives are intertwined for decades, reveal hidden things from
the past.
In the late 1800s, Harriet, the wife of an affluent man and the mistress of a large estate, writes from
her prison cell where she's serving a one-year sentence for the death of her four-year
old daughter.
Maddie, from a retirement home in the 1960s, is telling the story to a young woman whom has
known Maddie her entire life, and Ma...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Susan added it · review of another edition

I thought it would be more engrossing than it turned out to be.
Her language is very poetic but can get in the way of the plot.
The mother of the child who dies and mistress of the estate, is a very complex character and I waivered between detesting her and pitying her.

I really did not get the connection between her butterfly cabinet and the story of her life. It made her seem unfeeling, as did numerous other events in the story.

Maggie, the young maid, also played a key role in the tragedy that un...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Morganna The Hungry Wolf rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

arlo in senso unico e con presunzione, quando dico che ci siamo piaciuti. Perché io posso dire con slancio amoroso che il libro mi è piaciuto in maniera decisa e chiara, ma non so cosa il libro pensi di me.
E’ un libro fatto di voci, più che di eventi, di piccoli frammenti che si uniscono piano piano e ci portano verso la conoscenza di due donne diverse, più che verso la soluzione di un evento. Non c’è una trama strutturata, la narrazione procede tramite i ricordi i pensieri e le sensazioni di du...more arlo in senso unico e con presunzione, quando dico che ci siamo piaciuti. Perché io posso dire con slancio amoroso che il libro mi è piaciuto in maniera decisa e chiara, ma non so cosa il libro pensi di me.
E’ un libro fatto di voci, più che di eventi, di piccoli frammenti che si uniscono piano piano e ci portano verso la conoscenza di due donne diverse, più che verso la soluzione di un evento. Non c’è una trama strutturata, la narrazione procede tramite i ricordi i pensieri e le sensazioni di due donne. Una, Harriet, è la padrona, mentre l’altra Maddie, era una domestica al suo servizio. Entrambe vivevano nella stessa lussuosa casa, Casa Ormond, nell’Irlanda del Nord, sul mare ondoso e non, come quando si immagina generalmente l’Irlanda, su una placida collina verde. C’è anche una terza protagonista, che non parla mai, ma che viene soventemente evocata, ed è Charlotte, la bambina seria e decisa che perde la vita strangolata da una calza, la stessa calza con cui l’ha legata sua madre Harriet prima di chiuderla dentro la stanza usata per mettere in atto i rigidi principi educativi con cui voleva crescere i suoi bambini. La sua morte ed il suo permeare nelle vite di Maggie ed Harriet è il perno del libro, che però non si concentra solo su questo ma vagabonda in maniera circolare nel ricordare la loro vita passata, presente, e futura. Se quindi si cerca un libro puntuale, composto, ordinato oppure una mistery story che crei un pò di sana suspence questo libro non è adatto e vi deluderà. C’è poco di ordinato, le due donne divagano ampiamente e si perdono in inezie e racconti ad incastro. Ciò che si scopre è la loro umanità.
Sia della serva Maddie, ribelle a modo suo ed a modo suo colpevole, che della padrona Harriet.
Ma che Harriet non sia un mostro, ma piuttosto una donna che cerca di fare del suo meglio, anche precipitando se stessa nel baratro, ci è presto chiaro. E’ impossibile provare disgusto per lei, nonostante scopriamo prestissimo che picchia i suoi figli, anche molto duramente, per schiocchezze. Piuttosto nasce una sottile empatia per questa lady algida fuori ma tempestosa nell’animo, che ama galoppare e soffre ogni reclusione e che, dando il titolo al libro, imprigiona le farfalle per ucciderle e fissarle lei stessa (trova sciocco chi le compra da altri) ed osservarne le scaglie piene di colori. Impossibile pensare, quando Harriet racconta di come lavorava alla sua collezione, a come in fondo lei non stia che parlando di sé, della sua infinita solitudine, di come “c’è un tempo per frustare i cavalli e non è quando sono dentro le scuderie”, della luce che cerca disperatamente in ogni stanza, e che ha intravisto nel marito Edward e di come alla fine, rivolgendosi alla morte di Charlotte lei possa dire “Stavo cercando di insegnarle a salvarsi.”
Harriet cerca di salvarsi frammentandosi nei suoi figli, nove, troppi anche per l’epoca, e rompendosi cerca di scomparire, di andare via, diluendosi in qualcosa che non è, trasformando l’amore in disciplina.
E’ una donna con un’anima forte ma prigioniera dal suo sentirsi diversa dalla madre e dalla sorella, un cavallo da caccia relegato alla stalla, e con un segreto rivelato solo alla fine, un mistero che getta una luce nuova sulla sua persona e sulla sua sofferenza.
Ma anche la tata Maddie ha un segreto. Un grande segreto che rivelerà come nessuno sia davvero colpevole o davvero innocente in quella morte di bambina.
E tutti non sono che farfalle, frammenti di anima che vanno e vengono, e tornano e vivono e guardano il sé che potrebbero diventare, così come viene detto in una pagina vibrante e memorabile. Harriet e Maddie, entrambe amano. Ed entrambe vivranno una vita in più per quella della piccola Charlotte, che hanno ucciso dentro loro stesse più che all’atto pratico fuori.
Sostanzialmente, questo libro non lascia indifferenti, e pur dimenticando magari i dettagli della vita di queste due donne, le loro sensazioni rimangono ad aleggiare a lungo nella memoria del lettore.(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Mary Lou rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: irish

This is a fine lyrical work which captures the sky and the colour and the atmosphere of the north coast. The telling of the excellent story is divided between Harriet, writing a journal in her prison cell in 1892, and Maddie (who was one of Harriet's servants) retrospectively in 1968.

So was did I only really like it rather than rave about it?

Its a poignant moment when Harriet realises that her inability to ask for affection or help was obvious to her mother, and that still none was ever offered....more

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Jul 01, 2012 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won this book as a Good reads first reads book. The Butterfly Cabinet starts out in 1892 when Charlotte a four year old girl is locked in a closet as punishment. she is tied in there and tries to get herself lose. she accidentally hangs herself in the closet. her mother Harriet who put her in there is put in jail for child abuse.{ too bad there was no birth control back then because Harriet was not a loving mother} the story is told by two different women. Harriet who is in jail and keeping a...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Susan Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A drawer full of dust was once a beloved butterfly collection kept by a woman who loved it better than her own nine children. It seems nothing lasts forever. This horrific story of a woman who should never have married or had children kept me reading throughout the night. What happens to people who are simply overwhelmed and have no ability to cope? Harriet was raised by parents who did not show any affection to her. She was put in a corset at seven and, at one point, had to stand throughout the...more

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About Bernie Mcgill

Bernie McGill lives in Portstewart in Northern Ireland. Her first novel, The Butterfly Cabinet was published in the UK and Ireland in August 2010 by Headline Review and in the US by Free Press in July 2011. It is available in an Italian translation - La donna che collezionava farfalle - published by Bollati Boringhieri and in Dutch - Charlotte's vleugels - published by De Fontein. The paperback w...more Bernie McGill lives in Portstewart in Northern Ireland. Her first novel, The Butterfly Cabinet was published in the UK and Ireland in August 2010 by Headline Review and in the US by Free Press in July 2011. It is available in an Italian translation - La donna che collezionava farfalle - published by Bollati Boringhieri and in Dutch - Charlotte's vleugels - published by De Fontein. The paperback was released by Hachette Australia in May 2011 and in the UK and Ireland by Headline Review in June 2011. The Butterfly Cabinet is on Facebook.

Sleepwalkers, Bernie's first collection of short stories, was published in May 2013 by Whittrick Press. The title story was first prizewinner in the Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Contest (US) and the collection includes 'Home', a supplementary prizewinner in the 2010 Bridport Short Story Prize and 'No Angel', Second Prizewinner in the Seán Ó Faoláin and the Michael McLaverty Short Story Prizes. She co-wrote The Haunting of Helena Blunden, a stage play, for Big Telly Theatre Company in 2010 and The Weather Watchers, a play for young audiences for Cahoots NI in 2006. She is a recent recipient of an Arts Council ACES Award, in association with the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University, Belfast. Her short story 'No Angel' is included in the Salt publication Best British Short Stories 2011 edited by Nicholas Royle.

praise for The Butterfly Cabinet
'McGill has the ability to enter into the brain and heart of her characters and so to make us sympathise with people who commit acts we abhor.' (Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey writing in The Guardian)
'This is a fantastic novel. It drenches us in gothic sensibilities as it haunts us with uncomfortable reminders of recent sensational events.' USA Today
‘An utterly compelling tale... Pitch-perfect in tone.’ Marie Claire
'An emotionally bracing, refreshingly intelligent and ultimately heartbreaking story.' Kirkus Reviews
'Where McGill succeeds so well is in her language, beautiful and languorous and wild... we are caught and held tight.' Huffington Post
‘An intense exploration of maternal love and guilt.’ Financial Times (UK)
'The interplay of the voices of two exceptionally different personalities is perhaps the book's major achievement.' Minneapolis Star Tribune
‘Dramatic… enthralling and beautifully written.’ Good Housekeeping (UK)
'a powder keg of domestic suspense that threatens to explode as long-kept secrets surrounding Charlotte's death are teased out.' Publishers Weekly
'McGill's complex portrait of an unmotherly mother is as skilful and unusual as Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin.' Sydney Morning Herald(less)

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Quotes from The Butterfly Cabinet

“Some ghosts are so quiet you would hardly know they were there.” — 41 people liked it

“This is not my prison. I carry it with me. We devise cages of our own choosing.” — 3 people liked it

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