Butterfly Dreams

by Anne McClard

Grace McGuiver arrives in the Azores Islands of Portugal to do her dissertation research on the annual festival cycle. To get there, she travels on an ancient cargo boat auspiciously named the Holy Ghost . Little does she know her arrival will set into motion a series of deadly events that will threaten her ability to do what she came to do. She is ill prepared professionally for what awaits and poorly equipped emotionally to deal with life as a single woman in a strongly patriarchal culture. She soon discovers unknown foes and accusers who wish her ill, one of them said to be a witch. In the meantime, her love life back home is falling apart while two local men vie for her affections, giving islanders reason to gossip about her loose American ways. Her search for a resolution to her problems and redemption for unintended sins takes her down a path that leads to friendship, romance, mystery, and magic.

308 pages, Hardcover

Published August 31, 2023

About the author

ANNE MCCLARD is an anthropologist who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1961. Throughout her life she has lived all over the mainland United States, including: Colorado, Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and California. Having moved frequently during her childhood, she developed a strong interest in cultural differences within the continental United States, and to fit in, she honed her observational skills. Her early life influenced her decision to become a cultural anthropologist. In addition to people watching, she has wide ranging interests that include painting, drawing, playing bluegrass music with her friends and writing songs. She spent most of her professional life working in the technology industry as a design ethnographer, and in that capacity did research throughout the world. Butterfly Dreams is a novel inspired by research she did in the Azores for her doctoral dissertation at Brown University. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, daughter, mother, and two dogs.

Reviews

[Nancy Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Butterfly Dreams beckons the reader into an exotic locale on a remote island in the Azores in which the rules of cultural engagement and acceptance are both evocative and puzzling. It is a compelling mystery spun by a debut author who displays intimate knowledge of place, people, Portuguese language and customs. A page-turner!

[Tisya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really really good book. I didn't expect to like this a lot since at first the story felt like it was running in circles but you just have to read the next chapters to find a way out.

I love how the characters were written. The author shows that these characters are just humans, that they are good and also bad, and none of them were the villain.

I appreciate the portrayal of the culture of Azores. Although at first it felt like the author wrote them in a negative way, but it's not really like that. Their culture, their people kind of reminded me of my own culture and people. I came from a country that was colonized by another "great conquer" (really hate that term as if there's great in colonizing other countries just for god, glory and gold lol sorry author). The olhado reminded me of something the same in my culture, it's called "balis", although entirely different because someone gets sick because someone with it greeted you when they or you have an empty stomach. The olhado thing really really connected me with the story.

Also the spiritual aspects of the story. It didn't asked you to believe that what was happening in the story were true. It just shows you how things were true in these people's lives and respecting their beliefs and participating in them won't cause you harm. I like that as i am not really spiritual person but i love cultures and people.

On the romance part. I'm actually satisfied with it. Although i'm kind of tired with the trope of the main character's partner being left in their homeland and later found out cheating on her while the main character was also doing the same. But i understand it in the storytelling perspective. I guess things just happens for things to happen. Then the "love triangle", i was so uncomfortable with the old guy yikes lol. But Magnus, my guy. I didn't expect him to be the "fell first, fell harder" kind of guy. I really really like his character. His character was at first like the stereotype of a jerk but he's more than that. The way the author wrote his character was so good. I wish i can write a character like him.

Then Grace, our main character. She really said "main character", the world revolves around her lol. But really if i was on her shoes i would think and feel the same about the things that's happening around her. And she's a little lonely so i guess that's what drawn her with the attention she got with all those drama.

Overall i learned a lot with how you deal with people and it's community and culture. I really like this book.

SPOILER:
Although the story didn't really uncovered what was the cause of the illness of the boy, i feel like it was the raw fish or something that someone asked Grace to eat on her boat ride to Azores. The story kinda dodged that plot but i know it's that thing. Still i like the mystery around it, it kind of gave me this secret mission to uncover the truth about that. Kind of engaged me a little more to the story.

[ken anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In BUTTERFLY DREAMS Anne McClard weaves a narrative tapestry with threads of anthropology, suspense, and magical realism. The novel invites us on a journey with Grace McGuiver, an anthropologist to the remote island of São Jorge in the Azores. McClard employs the Catholic festival calendar as an intriguing prism through which to filter the reader's experience of the island—a subtle but effective technique that offers temporal anchors amidst the story's captivating fluidity.

The author masterfully paints São Jorge in its full multisensory splendor. From the island's lilting dialect to the intricate mores of its inhabitants, the world McClard creates echoes the aesthetic sensibilities of an Alfred Hitchcock film. One can almost hear Bernard Herrmann's haunting score as the narrative unfolds: a beautiful blonde, a wrongly accused innocent, inept law enforcement, peril lurking around every bend, and a revelation that reconfigures all preceding events. This world of BUTTERFLY DREAMS resonates with the thematic elements of Hitchcock classics like "Rear Window" or "The Man Who Knew Too Much."

But McClard's prowess isn't limited to setting and plot. The characters she breathes life into have both dimension and weight. Grace McGuiver emerges as a complex heroine whose professional and emotional struggles are achingly relatable. She's audacious yet unmistakably vulnerable, crumbling under the gravity of her own ordeals, as she struggles to find who she is. Equally robust characters surround her: Angela Maria, the unyielding confidante, and two enigmatic potential romances—Magnus, whose virtues make you skeptical of his authenticity, and Estêvão, an urbane older man veiled in intrigue.

The book doesn't shy away from examining the intersectional power dynamics of gender roles and societal taboos. In São Jorge, the epithet of a “witch” is carelessly hurled at women, whether young like Grace or elderly widows, with alarming real-world repercussions. In stark contrast, the island's men maneuver these gendered waters with relative freedom, a tension that serves to not merely enrich but also complicate the narrative.

Conclusively, BUTTERFLY DREAMS transcends mere storytelling; it offers an odyssey that educates and engrosses, leaving you yearning for another chapter. It's a book that caters to an array of tastes—be it an appreciation for exotic locales, mysteries, or the literary alchemy of magical realism. It is not just a must-read; IT IS A MUST-EXPERIENCE.

[Maya Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intriguing book about a part of the world few Americans ever get to--the Azores Islands off Portugal, a place still largely governed by superstition and belief in witchcraft. Grace McGuiver, the protagonist, is a fledgling anthropologist there to do her first fieldwork towards her degree. In many ways she is clueless, as she faces suspicion and incomprehension among the people she is supposed to be studying. She is also young and beautiful, which causes jealousy and other problems. McClard weaves a plot that builds steadily in suspense as Grace tries to connect to the locals and get to the bottom of the rumors that begin to swirl around her. Highly recommended!

[Bruce Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Butterfly Dreams skillfully weaves geography, anthropology, and sociology with luminous threads of mysticism to create a compelling narrative of life on a volcanic island in the Azores. An American, Grace McGuiver, wanders the island's cultural nooks and crannies, speaking Portuguese, savoring the local cuisine, interviewing the residents, and embarking on a new love affair as she resists being labeled a witch. The author's descriptions of people and landscape will immerse the reader in the world of this small, eccentric Atlantic community.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought Anne McClard's "Butterfly Dreams", I had no idea what to expect. I liked the general description and the 'literature/fiction/magical realism' genre and I had never read anything about the Azores and so was intrigued. The characters immediately captured me; her writing, story and 'feel' of the novel reminded me of Kingsolver's Bean Trees and her other earlier writings. I was swept up in the story, the magic, the intrigue and mostly Grace, Angela Marie and Magnus! I highly recommend McClard's first novel!

[Janna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and found myself falling into the world of life in the Azores and the people and culture it brought to life. To me, the sign of a good book is wanting to curl up on a rainy afternoon and disappear into the world of a book and that's exactly what I did with this one. Several times in fact.
It was great to learn about another culture from a person outside of that culture who can see what makes it tick.
All in all, I recommend grabbing a cup of tea and sitting down to enjoy Anne's book.

[Alan D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So finally, after many life interruptions, I was able to read this book, and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much! Mysteries are my favorites, and even more so when I learn something from them. I learned enough reading Butterfly Dreams that I am.now wanting to read more about the Azores.
I am eagerly awaiting Anne McClard’s next book, which I'm sure I will also love reading!!!

[Ramune Nagisetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery novel to read while traveling, especially to the Azores or Portugal in general.