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Butterfly's Child
When three-year-old Benji is plucked from the security of his home in Nagasaki to live with his American father, Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, and stepmother, Kate, on their farm in Illinois, the family conceals Benji’s true identity as a child born from a liaison between an officer and a geisha, and instead tells everyone that he is an orphan.
Frank struggles to keep the farm going while coping with his guilt and longing for the deceased Butterfly. Deeply devout Kate is torn between her Christian principles and her resentment of raising another woman’s child. And Benji’s life as an outcast—neither fully American nor fully Japanese—forces him to forge an identity far from the life he has known.
When the truth about Benji surfaces, it will splinter this family’s fragile dynamic, sending repercussions spiraling through their close-knit rural community and sending Benji on the journey of a lifetime from Illinois to the Japanese settlements in Denver and San Francisco, then across the ocean to Nagasaki, where he will uncover the truth about his mother’s tragic death.
A sweeping portrait of a changing American landscape at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a Japanese culture irrevocably altered by foreign influence, Butterfly’s Child explores people in transition—from old worlds to new customs, heart’s desires to vivid realities—in an epic tale that plays out as both a conclusion to and an inspiration for one of the most famous love stories ever told.
Frank struggles to keep the farm going while coping with his guilt and longing for the deceased Butterfly. Deeply devout Kate is torn between her Christian principles and her resentment of raising another woman’s child. And Benji’s life as an outcast—neither fully American nor fully Japanese—forces him to forge an identity far from the life he has known.
When the truth about Benji surfaces, it will splinter this family’s fragile dynamic, sending repercussions spiraling through their close-knit rural community and sending Benji on the journey of a lifetime from Illinois to the Japanese settlements in Denver and San Francisco, then across the ocean to Nagasaki, where he will uncover the truth about his mother’s tragic death.
A sweeping portrait of a changing American landscape at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a Japanese culture irrevocably altered by foreign influence, Butterfly’s Child explores people in transition—from old worlds to new customs, heart’s desires to vivid realities—in an epic tale that plays out as both a conclusion to and an inspiration for one of the most famous love stories ever told.
332 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
February 24, 2017
So good! Until the ending. I'm so craving a sequel!
June 5, 2011
Butterfly's Child is a first for me. It is a novel that continues an opera. The opera is Puccini's Madama Butterfly and the novel is the What If story of her son. Most of us have absorbed the basic unhappy love story of Madama Butterfly through pop culture osmosis without ever having seen any production. In the early 20th century a beautiful Geisha named enters a marriage contract with an American navel officer, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. The Geisha falls deeply in love with her husband and seems to love her as well. After he goes back to sea bares him a child. Three years later Pinkerton returns to his faithful, longing wife with his new, American wife, Kate. Pinkerton is too cowardly to confront his Japanese wife and instead leaves his American bride to do that. Not willing to live a life disgraced by her husband's betrayal, the Geisha sends her son into the garden and kills herself.
Author Angela Davis-Gardner (whose book Plum Wine I recently read and enjoyed very much) begins her novel with three year old Benji leaving his home in Nagasaki to live on the family farm in Illinois with his father Frank and stepmother Kate. The plan is to tell the neighbors that blond haired, Asian featured Benji is a newly adopted orphan in need of conversion to Christianity. You don't need to have a Magic 8 Ball to know that this blended family is in for a world of trouble.
Benji does what is expected of him around the farm and at school but is ever the outsider. His parentage is a taboo subject at home but a favorite gossip topic in the community. He grows up dutiful and eager to please but with a burning desire to know more about his birthplace and real family. Daddy Frank is no farmer but he does get very good at drinking and remorse. Stepmother Kate has trouble loving her husband's love child and reconciling that resentment with her faith. When the truth about Benji's background comes out (Come on! That cannot be a spoiler.) his fragile family cannot take the strain. That and the reaction of the neighbors send him racing back to Japan in search of the truth about his Mother.
Davis-Gardner moves Butterfly's Child confidently between the complex culture of Japan and the seemingly open book life on an American farm with imagination and style. The characters that she has purloined and those she created slowly open up like a fan revealing their hearts and capturing our intense interest. She has replaced the opera's grandeur with an intricate layering of relationships and the lure of deeply held secrets. Davis-Gardner has taken a much treasured story and dared to enlarge it. Bravo.
Author Angela Davis-Gardner (whose book Plum Wine I recently read and enjoyed very much) begins her novel with three year old Benji leaving his home in Nagasaki to live on the family farm in Illinois with his father Frank and stepmother Kate. The plan is to tell the neighbors that blond haired, Asian featured Benji is a newly adopted orphan in need of conversion to Christianity. You don't need to have a Magic 8 Ball to know that this blended family is in for a world of trouble.
Benji does what is expected of him around the farm and at school but is ever the outsider. His parentage is a taboo subject at home but a favorite gossip topic in the community. He grows up dutiful and eager to please but with a burning desire to know more about his birthplace and real family. Daddy Frank is no farmer but he does get very good at drinking and remorse. Stepmother Kate has trouble loving her husband's love child and reconciling that resentment with her faith. When the truth about Benji's background comes out (Come on! That cannot be a spoiler.) his fragile family cannot take the strain. That and the reaction of the neighbors send him racing back to Japan in search of the truth about his Mother.
Davis-Gardner moves Butterfly's Child confidently between the complex culture of Japan and the seemingly open book life on an American farm with imagination and style. The characters that she has purloined and those she created slowly open up like a fan revealing their hearts and capturing our intense interest. She has replaced the opera's grandeur with an intricate layering of relationships and the lure of deeply held secrets. Davis-Gardner has taken a much treasured story and dared to enlarge it. Bravo.
August 5, 2021
Butterfly’s Child is a sort-of sequel to the opera Madame Butterfly. Since I’ve never seen the opera, I was glad that a brief synopsis of the opera is included at the beginning of the book. In the opera, Madame Butterfly, a geisha in Japan, has a relationship with Lt. Pinkerton, a sailor, who when leaving, promises to return for her. After his departure, Madame Butterfly finds herself pregnant, has a son and waits three long years for Lt. Pinkerton to return. When he does return, it is with an American wife. In shame, Madame Butterfly commits suicide and leaves a note requesting that Lt. Pinkerton take his son home to be raised in America. Pinkerton and his wife take his son, renamed Benji, back to their farm in southern Illinois.
The story starts in 1895, and it isn’t hard to believe what a difficult life Benji will face. Pinkerton and his wife tell everyone that they decided to adopt an orphan when they visited Japan. They are afraid of the disgrace if it is found that Pinkerton is actually Benji’s father. But Benji knows that Pinkerton is his father. His mother spoke to him often about his father and he has a picture of his mother and Pinkerton. It is this picture that will create problems for the entire family. There are a few bright spots in Benji’s life – his grandmother knows the truth of his parentage and loves him anyway. The local vet realizes what a difficult life he has and goes out of his way to befriend him. All Benji dreams of is returning to Japan and searching for his mother’s family.
The author, Angela Davis-Gardner, spent a year living and teaching in Japan, and she does an excellent job of describing life in Japan. Benji was such a likeable character and suffered so much due to being half American/half Japanese. I could not put this book down because I had to find out what was going to happen to this boy who had such a difficult life, but never gave up. This was an interesting and original book that I greatly enjoyed.
The story starts in 1895, and it isn’t hard to believe what a difficult life Benji will face. Pinkerton and his wife tell everyone that they decided to adopt an orphan when they visited Japan. They are afraid of the disgrace if it is found that Pinkerton is actually Benji’s father. But Benji knows that Pinkerton is his father. His mother spoke to him often about his father and he has a picture of his mother and Pinkerton. It is this picture that will create problems for the entire family. There are a few bright spots in Benji’s life – his grandmother knows the truth of his parentage and loves him anyway. The local vet realizes what a difficult life he has and goes out of his way to befriend him. All Benji dreams of is returning to Japan and searching for his mother’s family.
The author, Angela Davis-Gardner, spent a year living and teaching in Japan, and she does an excellent job of describing life in Japan. Benji was such a likeable character and suffered so much due to being half American/half Japanese. I could not put this book down because I had to find out what was going to happen to this boy who had such a difficult life, but never gave up. This was an interesting and original book that I greatly enjoyed.
January 2, 2012
I am not an opera fan and did not know the story of Madam Butterfly but you don't need to in order to understand the book. The plot is told and I am sure I got more out of the quick synopsis than I would have by viewing the opera.
Benji is a product of a naval seaman's affair with a geisha. When he returns with his American wife, the geisha arranges the events of her suicide that leave Benji's dad and his wife with no alternative but to take the boy back to America as an "unfortunate orphan" to raise. The complexity of the situation is worsened by Kate's mother-in-law living with them, her learning how to live on a farm and her husband's coming to terms with his dead father who beat him. He unfortunately makes some of the same mistakes with Benji and drives him away from home at age 15 in much the same way he was driven away.
Benji's only desire is to reach Nagasaki and his mother's people. I won't give away all that happens but there were twists that added to the story and others that were not as believable.
All in all, a good, quick read.
Benji is a product of a naval seaman's affair with a geisha. When he returns with his American wife, the geisha arranges the events of her suicide that leave Benji's dad and his wife with no alternative but to take the boy back to America as an "unfortunate orphan" to raise. The complexity of the situation is worsened by Kate's mother-in-law living with them, her learning how to live on a farm and her husband's coming to terms with his dead father who beat him. He unfortunately makes some of the same mistakes with Benji and drives him away from home at age 15 in much the same way he was driven away.
Benji's only desire is to reach Nagasaki and his mother's people. I won't give away all that happens but there were twists that added to the story and others that were not as believable.
All in all, a good, quick read.
May 7, 2011
This is a masterpiece. Angela Davis-Gardner's story of what happens after the last aria of Madame Butterfly is poignant and beautifully crafted. As a reader, I felt I'd traveled through time to meet and observe these characters whom Puccini named and compelled to sing, but whom Davis-Gardner brings to life in ways that surprise and satisfy.
Of all the assessments I've read to date, I think the writer for Kirkus Reviews said it best: "In its way, (Butterfly's Child) holds its own alongside the modern Western masterpieces of Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. For all its melancholy and madness, it strikes themes of hope and renewal, and believing in the unbelievable."
This is Davis-Gardner's best work ever. I recommend this remarkable book without hesitation, and look forward to sharing copies - and the pleasure of this experience -- with my friends.
Of all the assessments I've read to date, I think the writer for Kirkus Reviews said it best: "In its way, (Butterfly's Child) holds its own alongside the modern Western masterpieces of Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. For all its melancholy and madness, it strikes themes of hope and renewal, and believing in the unbelievable."
This is Davis-Gardner's best work ever. I recommend this remarkable book without hesitation, and look forward to sharing copies - and the pleasure of this experience -- with my friends.
August 23, 2021
Actually 3 1/2*
June 4, 2011
Butterfly's Child, an exquisite book, beautifully written, satisfied me as a writer, a voracious reader, and an opera nut. The first time around I read this novel as fast as I could, pulled through it by the fascinating plot. Then I read it again to enjoy the writing and study the technique.
I first saw Madame Butterfly in 1984, and was even then intrigued and curious about what happened to Trouble (or Sorrow, depending on the translation), the little boy who was left behind when Cio Cio San committed suicide. Davis-Gardner, through her scrupulous research and her life-long connections to Japan, has created a wonderful resolution to the story that Puccini left open-ended. Benji (the name Davis-Gardner gives the boy) is a great protagonist...so believable, so human. The novel is told in several points of view, and as a writer, I have a great appreciation for the difficulty of pulling off such a feat.
This book is now on the shelf where I keep books I want to read several times.
Brava!!
I first saw Madame Butterfly in 1984, and was even then intrigued and curious about what happened to Trouble (or Sorrow, depending on the translation), the little boy who was left behind when Cio Cio San committed suicide. Davis-Gardner, through her scrupulous research and her life-long connections to Japan, has created a wonderful resolution to the story that Puccini left open-ended. Benji (the name Davis-Gardner gives the boy) is a great protagonist...so believable, so human. The novel is told in several points of view, and as a writer, I have a great appreciation for the difficulty of pulling off such a feat.
This book is now on the shelf where I keep books I want to read several times.
Brava!!
March 17, 2011
This book was and was not what I expected but it will pull you into the story with it's well drawn characters and fast paced storyline.
This is a story which I thought initially was based on a single lie being told. This lie affected the lives of the characters' to differing degrees, some in a seemingly horrific way. The lies come back again and again to destroy the relationships and lives of the characters.
Frank Pinkerton tells the first lie when he promises to return to Butterfly. His intention was to never return but to have an American wife and have American children. This story is mainly about the struggle to conceal the identify of the Asian child he and his wife bring to their farm and the consequences of that second lie and the way this lie affects on not only himself but his wife, his Asian son and his American children. At first you feel sorry for Frank who tries to do the right thing and his wife Kate who accepts this child but especially for Benji who has been taken from his home land and brought to a farm in Illinois to grow up not Japanese but also not American.
There are moments of happiness for Benji and a few true friends but the burning desire to return to Japan never dies within him. Finally, when Benji is a teenager, he travels across country and eventually on to Japan. He learns some hard lessons on this long journey. He eventually makes a new life but still seeks what he lost all those years ago. While he is achieving his heart's desire, the Pinkerton family has fallen apart back in Illinois. Lies and gossip about the truth destroyed their lives and family.
The last lie is finally revealed and you will question your feelings about some of the characters. This story will make you think. I throughly enjoyed this book.
I received this book as a first-reads giveaway.
This is a story which I thought initially was based on a single lie being told. This lie affected the lives of the characters' to differing degrees, some in a seemingly horrific way. The lies come back again and again to destroy the relationships and lives of the characters.
Frank Pinkerton tells the first lie when he promises to return to Butterfly. His intention was to never return but to have an American wife and have American children. This story is mainly about the struggle to conceal the identify of the Asian child he and his wife bring to their farm and the consequences of that second lie and the way this lie affects on not only himself but his wife, his Asian son and his American children. At first you feel sorry for Frank who tries to do the right thing and his wife Kate who accepts this child but especially for Benji who has been taken from his home land and brought to a farm in Illinois to grow up not Japanese but also not American.
There are moments of happiness for Benji and a few true friends but the burning desire to return to Japan never dies within him. Finally, when Benji is a teenager, he travels across country and eventually on to Japan. He learns some hard lessons on this long journey. He eventually makes a new life but still seeks what he lost all those years ago. While he is achieving his heart's desire, the Pinkerton family has fallen apart back in Illinois. Lies and gossip about the truth destroyed their lives and family.
The last lie is finally revealed and you will question your feelings about some of the characters. This story will make you think. I throughly enjoyed this book.
I received this book as a first-reads giveaway.
March 14, 2012
Interesting take on the story from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly. I was drawn in enough to stay up until 2:00 a.m. to finish the book in a single day. My heart broke for Benji, the little boy who didn't really fit in either world, and for Kate, who worked so hard to love Benji and take care of him but suffered so much from the daily reminder of her husband's love for another woman.
Not going to spoil the ending, but I was surprised by how Ms. Davis-Gardner incorporated the opera into the story and how not all was as it seemed in 1895. I was glad that at the very end Benji seemed to recognize that while his father and stepmother certainly made mistakes, they also truly did make significant sacrifices for him and didn't deserve the notoriety the opera would bring them. Nor did they deserve his years-long silence after running away, particularly his brother and sister who adored him, and his good friends Keast and Lena. I appreciated the growth in Benji's character after leaving the farm, and finally making it to Nagasaki.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
Not going to spoil the ending, but I was surprised by how Ms. Davis-Gardner incorporated the opera into the story and how not all was as it seemed in 1895. I was glad that at the very end Benji seemed to recognize that while his father and stepmother certainly made mistakes, they also truly did make significant sacrifices for him and didn't deserve the notoriety the opera would bring them. Nor did they deserve his years-long silence after running away, particularly his brother and sister who adored him, and his good friends Keast and Lena. I appreciated the growth in Benji's character after leaving the farm, and finally making it to Nagasaki.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
July 30, 2023
An interesting enough story of Madame Butterfly's child, Pinkerton and his wife. The time of the events left this family with issues of morality, premarital affairs & consequences, prejudice, and their own internal issues. It had the makings of a good story.
However, I never bought into their plights. There were too many words to describe events & conversations that went nowhere and did not add to the story. Filler. Too much of it.
However, I never bought into their plights. There were too many words to describe events & conversations that went nowhere and did not add to the story. Filler. Too much of it.
March 14, 2011
From the synopsis:
"When three-year-old Benji is plucked from the security of his home in Nagasaki to live with his American father, Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, and stepmother, Kate, on their farm in Illinois, the family conceals Benji’s true identity as a child born from a liaison between an officer and a geisha, and instead tells everyone that he is an orphan.
Frank struggles to keep the farm going while coping with his guilt and longing for the deceased Butterfly. Deeply devout Kate is torn between her Christian principles and her resentment of raising another woman’s child. And Benji’s life as an outcast—neither fully American nor fully Japanese—forces him to forge an identity far from the life he has known.
When the truth about Benji surfaces, it will splinter this family’s fragile dynamic, sending repercussions spiraling through their close-knit rural community and sending Benji on the journey of a lifetime from Illinois to the Japanese settlements in Denver and San Francisco, then across the ocean to Nagasaki, where he will uncover the truth about his mother’s tragic death.
A sweeping portrait of a changing American landscape at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a Japanese culture irrevocably altered by foreign influence, Butterfly’s Child explores people in transition—from old worlds to new customs, heart’s desires to vivid realities—in an epic tale that plays out as both a conclusion to and an inspiration for one of the most famous love stories ever told."
I had a lot of mixed feelings as I read this book. While the story was OK, the book just seemed to drag on and on. If not for the fact that I was required to do a review in exchange for receiving an advanced copy of the book, I probably would have stopped reading it a lot sooner.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Benji throughout the book. I can only imagine how difficult his life would have been, being a biracial child during that period of history. While I felt some sympathy for the Pinkertons, I thought they could have done a much better job in raising Benji.
There was actually one thing that really bothered me about the book. Now, I would'nt consider myself a prude when it comes to sex but, I thought there were many examples in the book where things related to this subject came off sounding extremely vulgar.
"When three-year-old Benji is plucked from the security of his home in Nagasaki to live with his American father, Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, and stepmother, Kate, on their farm in Illinois, the family conceals Benji’s true identity as a child born from a liaison between an officer and a geisha, and instead tells everyone that he is an orphan.
Frank struggles to keep the farm going while coping with his guilt and longing for the deceased Butterfly. Deeply devout Kate is torn between her Christian principles and her resentment of raising another woman’s child. And Benji’s life as an outcast—neither fully American nor fully Japanese—forces him to forge an identity far from the life he has known.
When the truth about Benji surfaces, it will splinter this family’s fragile dynamic, sending repercussions spiraling through their close-knit rural community and sending Benji on the journey of a lifetime from Illinois to the Japanese settlements in Denver and San Francisco, then across the ocean to Nagasaki, where he will uncover the truth about his mother’s tragic death.
A sweeping portrait of a changing American landscape at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a Japanese culture irrevocably altered by foreign influence, Butterfly’s Child explores people in transition—from old worlds to new customs, heart’s desires to vivid realities—in an epic tale that plays out as both a conclusion to and an inspiration for one of the most famous love stories ever told."
I had a lot of mixed feelings as I read this book. While the story was OK, the book just seemed to drag on and on. If not for the fact that I was required to do a review in exchange for receiving an advanced copy of the book, I probably would have stopped reading it a lot sooner.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Benji throughout the book. I can only imagine how difficult his life would have been, being a biracial child during that period of history. While I felt some sympathy for the Pinkertons, I thought they could have done a much better job in raising Benji.
There was actually one thing that really bothered me about the book. Now, I would'nt consider myself a prude when it comes to sex but, I thought there were many examples in the book where things related to this subject came off sounding extremely vulgar.
April 27, 2011
As an opera nut and a particular fan of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," I cannot separate my long immersion in the opera's plot from my enjoyment and appreciation of Davis-Gardner's imaginative take on what might have happened to Butterfly's son, Benji, after he was taken to America by his father. However, I think the novel works as a stand-alone story, as Davis-Gardner supplies enough of the opera's plot to fill in for those who don't know it.
I think anyone who has been uprooted from familiar surroundings, has been an outsider, has been teased for being different, has made bad choices in life or has sacrificed one's own happiness for children and family should respond to this story. Davis-Gardner has gotten into the minds of her characters and ably expressed each one's dreams and disappointments. They all have flaws but all invite empathy.
The plot moves apace, but is especially involving once Benji leaves the Illinois farm and heads for San Francisco to find a way to return to Japan. There are a number of surprises and twists and Davis-Gardner even works in appropriate and believable references to performances of the Puccini opera.
Davis-Gardner has meticulously researched the period and draws on her own experiences in Japan and her knowledge of the culture. The writing has a spare grace and beauty, with elegant phrasing and attention to detail.
Recommended.
I think anyone who has been uprooted from familiar surroundings, has been an outsider, has been teased for being different, has made bad choices in life or has sacrificed one's own happiness for children and family should respond to this story. Davis-Gardner has gotten into the minds of her characters and ably expressed each one's dreams and disappointments. They all have flaws but all invite empathy.
The plot moves apace, but is especially involving once Benji leaves the Illinois farm and heads for San Francisco to find a way to return to Japan. There are a number of surprises and twists and Davis-Gardner even works in appropriate and believable references to performances of the Puccini opera.
Davis-Gardner has meticulously researched the period and draws on her own experiences in Japan and her knowledge of the culture. The writing has a spare grace and beauty, with elegant phrasing and attention to detail.
Recommended.
August 15, 2011
I really enjoyed this; I read it in less than two days. It's the first piece of fiction I've read in quite a while, and was a good way to get back into the genre. The story begins where the opera Madame Butterfly left off: after the ritual suicide of Cio-Cio, the butterfly of the opera, her son Benji is taken back to the United States by his American father, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, the sailor who broke Cio-Cio's heart, and Kate, Franklin's new wife. The beautiful writing is almost unbearable to read, because the story is so heartbreaking—especially at the beginning, as 5-year-old Benji is torn from everything he knows—his home, language, customs and—of course—his mother. The author does a great job of conveying the humanity behind each of the confused, well-meaning characters, including, somewhat surprisingly, Franklin and Kate. The writing is strong enough to support some pretty far-fetched plot developments; each character tells their part of the story in his or her unique voice.
August 9, 2011
Inspired by Puccini's Madame Butterfly, this novel tells the story of Butterfly's child who is suddenly wrenched from his mother at the end of the opera. What will happen to this small orphan, tragically bereft of the only parent he knows?
Told from a variety of viewpoints, the reader sees the rippliing effect of choices; observes truth so frequently is not as it appears; is reminded that love entwined with forgiveness is still the greatest of these.
Butterfly's Child is a story of journeys in miles and of the heart; a satisfying story that come full circle to encompass two cultures and imperfect people striving to find the way.
June 11, 2012
I just finished Butterfly's Child.
I was surprised to discover that this book is the continuation of the story of Madame Butterfly.
I found the first 100 pages of the book difficult, not because they weren't written well, because they were, but because I didn't like any of the characters and that included the unfortunate little boy. I understand his life was turned on its head, but I felt to pity for him after a certain point. Then toward the 100th page I did and that's when the book picked up.
It's a nice read and causes you to want to know how this all plays out.
The ending is satisfying and if you're willing to trudge through the 100 pages is worth the read.
I was surprised to discover that this book is the continuation of the story of Madame Butterfly.
I found the first 100 pages of the book difficult, not because they weren't written well, because they were, but because I didn't like any of the characters and that included the unfortunate little boy. I understand his life was turned on its head, but I felt to pity for him after a certain point. Then toward the 100th page I did and that's when the book picked up.
It's a nice read and causes you to want to know how this all plays out.
The ending is satisfying and if you're willing to trudge through the 100 pages is worth the read.
July 18, 2015
Interesting premise, taking the story of the opera Madam Butterfly and imagining what might have happened after that well known story ends. Not a bad story, but the prose is a bit stilted and the ending was abrupt, almost as if the author had to hurry to meet a publishing deadline. The characters are realistic, sympathetic, and well-developed, but the story line gets bogged down in melodrama and the big "reveal' in the end is really over the top.Not sure I'd bother to check out any other titles by this writer. Still, all in all, entertaining enough for a summer read.
August 12, 2021
Butterfly's Child is a coming of age, historical fiction written by Angela Davis-Gardner. This quiet and measured sequel to Puccini's Madame Butterfly begins with the dramatic détente of Puccini's opera.
Cio-Cio-san kills herself when Pinkerton, the father of her son, Benji, returns with an American wife after four years away. Benji then travels with his father and stepmother to flat central Illinois – the polar opposite of Japan, to begin a life of hard farm labor, becoming an outsider within his family and community.
Butterfly's Child is written rather well. Though Davis-Garner inherited her characters, they are complex, dimensional beings and presented well. There are no stock villains, perfect heroes, or tragic victims as Benji grows up and the readers follow his journey in search of the family, descended from samurai, that supposedly awaits his return to Japan. It traces the sad descent of Benji's stepmother into madness and father into alcoholism, without being trite or moralistic.
All in all, Butterfly's Child is a haunting and lyrical follow-up to Madame Butterfly.
Cio-Cio-san kills herself when Pinkerton, the father of her son, Benji, returns with an American wife after four years away. Benji then travels with his father and stepmother to flat central Illinois – the polar opposite of Japan, to begin a life of hard farm labor, becoming an outsider within his family and community.
Butterfly's Child is written rather well. Though Davis-Garner inherited her characters, they are complex, dimensional beings and presented well. There are no stock villains, perfect heroes, or tragic victims as Benji grows up and the readers follow his journey in search of the family, descended from samurai, that supposedly awaits his return to Japan. It traces the sad descent of Benji's stepmother into madness and father into alcoholism, without being trite or moralistic.
All in all, Butterfly's Child is a haunting and lyrical follow-up to Madame Butterfly.
November 6, 2011
MADAMA BUTTERFLY is a passionate, deeply moving opera. For years, though, I only admired the music without ever getting caught up in the drama, because I found Butterfly such a fool and Pinkerton, her American husband, such a cad. Perhaps age softened my harsh judgement because now the opera touches me deeply. So when I read a very positive review of this book in an issue of OPERA NEWS, I was quite intrigued. Unfortunately, I found this book a major disappointment. Time showed me that in the opera, Butterfly was really a romantic young girl, hungry for love and a way out of the narrow, unhappy life her culture demanded of her. In her eyes, Pinkerton was her savior. And Pinkerton, though self-serving, for a short while got caught up in her fantasy. I never grew to like him, though, and his character is one thing this book gets right, revealing him for the pedestrian, dellusional bore he is. In the opera, when he finally returns to Japan, bringing his American wife with him, Butterfly, who's never given up hope he'll return to her and the son she bore him since his departure, commits suicide, leaving the child to the care of Pinkerton and his new wife. The book take up from that point, with the Pinkertons returning to America, "Benji" in tow. They agree to try to pass the three year old child off as an orphan they found and took pity on but not too many people in the Illinois farmland community they're a part of are fooled. The author's characterization of Pinkerton is true to the opera which means, of course, that he's not likeable, admirable or even very interesting. Kate Pinkerton's a real sadsack and Benji's character follows the route you'd expect, never doing anything you're not expecting a couple of pages before he actually does it. Flat prose drags this book down even more. For me, though, the person who for years resisted the passionate sweep of the opera due to intellectual reservations, the book's biggest offense is the unwarranted twist the author comes up with that betrays Puccini's gentle, romantic heroine by turning her into a cynical, opportunistic creature not much better than Pinkerton. In the end, I felt the author was more interested in showing off her own "cleverness" than writing a truly organic account of the child of a Japanese geisha and an American sailor at the turn of the century, and how such a child would have fared in either world, neither of which would have have fully accepted him.
April 27, 2011
Here's my take on Butterfly's Child: Fascinating!
A blonde five-year-old with Japanese eyes is a mystery in the American Midwest in the late nineteenth century. Butterfly's Child by Angela Davis-Gardner is a story at once as mysteriously delicate as the plume of ship's smoke that Cio-Cio-san waits to see on the horizon - and as gritty as the farm in the Midwest where a confused and uprooted small mixed-race boy lands.
Davis-Gardner brings together, in this beautifully written and deeply stirring novel, not only East and West, but then and now. This is a timeless rendering of marriage at its best and worst, of the lengths a parent will go for a child, of how one decision or action can roll on and on in its effects. Butterfly's Child has the drama of an opera and the meticulous realism of a profound psychological novel.
A blonde five-year-old with Japanese eyes is a mystery in the American Midwest in the late nineteenth century. Butterfly's Child by Angela Davis-Gardner is a story at once as mysteriously delicate as the plume of ship's smoke that Cio-Cio-san waits to see on the horizon - and as gritty as the farm in the Midwest where a confused and uprooted small mixed-race boy lands.
Davis-Gardner brings together, in this beautifully written and deeply stirring novel, not only East and West, but then and now. This is a timeless rendering of marriage at its best and worst, of the lengths a parent will go for a child, of how one decision or action can roll on and on in its effects. Butterfly's Child has the drama of an opera and the meticulous realism of a profound psychological novel.
February 21, 2013
Not very often do I not finish a book but there was no point in wasting any more time on this one.
The entire story was very sad. All the characters were unlikable (Should I have felt sorry for Benji? Because I didn't. The author didn't even make him likeable.) The writing was very choppy. It was crude and repulsive.
Disappointed.
The entire story was very sad. All the characters were unlikable (Should I have felt sorry for Benji? Because I didn't. The author didn't even make him likeable.) The writing was very choppy. It was crude and repulsive.
Disappointed.
June 7, 2012
They had me with the premise - what happened to Butterfly and Pinkerton's child after he moved back to the US? - and then they lost me with destroying the fourth wall by Pinkerton finding out about some opera that a Mr. Puccini wrote about him. A book with this interesting a hypothesis should never make you yell, "Oh, come ON" about halfway through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2011
Won an advanced copy from goodreads FirstReads!! Wish I could give this one 3.5 stars! The first half was absolutely wonderful and then it seemed to drag on a bit. Didn't like the "Benji on the run" part. Did not see the ending coming. Overall, I enjoyed the book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2021
It was dull and too slow for me and it only kept on going downhill. There were moments where I felt that there was an incorrect portrayal of Japanese culture.
October 8, 2019
Up until the ending, I would have given this a 4/5. The ending really ruined it! It didn’t end it just... stops. So much left unsaid, unknown!
August 20, 2019
3.75 stars
"Butterfly's Child" picks up where Puccini's opera, "Madama Butterfly" leaves off, with the son of Cio-Cio San, its eponymous heroine, next to his mother's lifeless body. Angela Davis-Gardner, the author, then creates the story of what comes next, when the death of the Japanese wife he had abandoned forces Navy Lt. Frank Pinkerton to take his son, named Benji after his "Papa-san," back to his failing farm in Illinois. His American wife, Kate, must also be convinced, since it will fall on her to raise the child of another woman - a woman for whom she eventually comes to know that she is only a substitute - but quickly concludes that it's her duty as a Christian to do so, and at the age of 3, Benji is taken from Nagasaki to Plum River, Illinois.
Once the decision is made to "adopt" his own son, Frank and Kate immediately concoct a story which they believe will answer any questions as to how and why they have returned with a child who despite his blond hair is clearly Japanese. Frank's mother, who has been living on the farm in order to help city-bred Kate learn the ins and outs of life as a farm wife, immediately recognizes that Benji is her grandson, but remains silent, as does anyone else in town who harbors the same suspicion. From the moment that the ship leaves Nagasaki, Benji is told that Frank is not his father, and to never refer to him as "Papa-san," as his mother always taught him. But Benji finds a photograph of both his parents which Cio-Cio's maid Suzuki, had sewn into the hem of a kimono which she had packed for him, and while he is unable to read the Japanese writing on the back, he knows the truth. Benji and Kate both have trouble adjusting to life on the farm, and a combination of financial troubles caused by bad harvests and the guilt over Cio-Cio's death that continues to wrack Frank's conscience leads him to start drinking heavily and engage in increasingly abusive behavior. Benji's friends and defenders include his teacher, who recognizes his intelligence, the local veterinarian (who like Frank's mother immediate realizes the truth about Benji's parentage, and while angered by Frank's lies, remains silent), and a classmate with whom he becomes close and dreams of a future which he comes to realizes as he ages is not possible. An incident which threatens to reveal the truth to the rest of the town causes Frank's rage to drive Benji to leave Illinois and make his way back to Nagasaki, where he vows to learn the truth about his mother and her family.
While I don't believe that this book was the literary masterpiece that some have proclaimed it, I did find it to be well-written and researched, especially when it came to the portions that take place in Nagasaki. Parts of it are compelling, parts of it are infuriating, and there are enough instances of comic relief, especially during Benji's cross-country voyage to San Francisco, to keep the story from being bogged down by tragedy and misfortune. The author also managed to explain the genetic aberration in both the opera and the short story which inspired it which has a Japanese girl giving birth to a blond child, and also introduced the opera on which the book is based, which at one point leads Frank Pinkerton to complain that his "life has been stolen." While smart and resilient, Benji does at one point prove that in some respects he is his father's son, although he retains his mother's heart and has also been influenced by the generosity shown to him by several of the secondary characters. On the whole, a satisfying read.
"Butterfly's Child" picks up where Puccini's opera, "Madama Butterfly" leaves off, with the son of Cio-Cio San, its eponymous heroine, next to his mother's lifeless body. Angela Davis-Gardner, the author, then creates the story of what comes next, when the death of the Japanese wife he had abandoned forces Navy Lt. Frank Pinkerton to take his son, named Benji after his "Papa-san," back to his failing farm in Illinois. His American wife, Kate, must also be convinced, since it will fall on her to raise the child of another woman - a woman for whom she eventually comes to know that she is only a substitute - but quickly concludes that it's her duty as a Christian to do so, and at the age of 3, Benji is taken from Nagasaki to Plum River, Illinois.
Once the decision is made to "adopt" his own son, Frank and Kate immediately concoct a story which they believe will answer any questions as to how and why they have returned with a child who despite his blond hair is clearly Japanese. Frank's mother, who has been living on the farm in order to help city-bred Kate learn the ins and outs of life as a farm wife, immediately recognizes that Benji is her grandson, but remains silent, as does anyone else in town who harbors the same suspicion. From the moment that the ship leaves Nagasaki, Benji is told that Frank is not his father, and to never refer to him as "Papa-san," as his mother always taught him. But Benji finds a photograph of both his parents which Cio-Cio's maid Suzuki, had sewn into the hem of a kimono which she had packed for him, and while he is unable to read the Japanese writing on the back, he knows the truth. Benji and Kate both have trouble adjusting to life on the farm, and a combination of financial troubles caused by bad harvests and the guilt over Cio-Cio's death that continues to wrack Frank's conscience leads him to start drinking heavily and engage in increasingly abusive behavior. Benji's friends and defenders include his teacher, who recognizes his intelligence, the local veterinarian (who like Frank's mother immediate realizes the truth about Benji's parentage, and while angered by Frank's lies, remains silent), and a classmate with whom he becomes close and dreams of a future which he comes to realizes as he ages is not possible. An incident which threatens to reveal the truth to the rest of the town causes Frank's rage to drive Benji to leave Illinois and make his way back to Nagasaki, where he vows to learn the truth about his mother and her family.
While I don't believe that this book was the literary masterpiece that some have proclaimed it, I did find it to be well-written and researched, especially when it came to the portions that take place in Nagasaki. Parts of it are compelling, parts of it are infuriating, and there are enough instances of comic relief, especially during Benji's cross-country voyage to San Francisco, to keep the story from being bogged down by tragedy and misfortune. The author also managed to explain the genetic aberration in both the opera and the short story which inspired it which has a Japanese girl giving birth to a blond child, and also introduced the opera on which the book is based, which at one point leads Frank Pinkerton to complain that his "life has been stolen." While smart and resilient, Benji does at one point prove that in some respects he is his father's son, although he retains his mother's heart and has also been influenced by the generosity shown to him by several of the secondary characters. On the whole, a satisfying read.
December 19, 2021
I've never actually seen Madame Butterfly, but I know its basic storyline. I've never been to the opera, but I've got the general gist of the atmosphere. And overall, I found this book's concept, the idea of it, to be clever and interesting: What DID ever happen to Pinkerton... to Pinkerton's young wife... to young Benji...to Suzuki... after Madame Butterfly took her life? How would a very young Benji get along in the United States? How would the horror of losing a mother so violently affect him?
The future for the characters that Davis-Gardner envisioned in the book includes a plot of twists and turns, some easily anticipated (like the development of a story to explain away a blond Japanese baby in a small farming community and the effect of that deception on each of those involved), and others not so easily anticipated (like the final 50 pages when Benji finally learns the truth about his mother--which I won't reveal here). Those twists keep pulling the reader through the novel--it was a hard book to put down.
I didn't award the final star here because there are loose ends at the end that I felt disappointed were not tied up. There's some closing ideas that Pinkerton has about how he will unite his broken family, but it's not clear that Kate will blossom under this plan. I also couldn't help but think of the original tragedy that inspired this story and how Frank's plans could actually cause similar damage to his youngest children, the twins, as his plans threaten to remove them from the only home they know (and throw a wrench in Keast's very productive life). It seemed a trite way out of the complex emotional damage that the author developed over the course of the novel, and I was dissatisfied. I also had to read the ending twice to get how she was resolving Benji's complicated adult understanding of the sacrifices that had been made by all involved. It just seemed too rushed. Too many loose threads.
On the whole, though, it was a satisfying read and well worth the time.
The future for the characters that Davis-Gardner envisioned in the book includes a plot of twists and turns, some easily anticipated (like the development of a story to explain away a blond Japanese baby in a small farming community and the effect of that deception on each of those involved), and others not so easily anticipated (like the final 50 pages when Benji finally learns the truth about his mother--which I won't reveal here). Those twists keep pulling the reader through the novel--it was a hard book to put down.
I didn't award the final star here because there are loose ends at the end that I felt disappointed were not tied up. There's some closing ideas that Pinkerton has about how he will unite his broken family, but it's not clear that Kate will blossom under this plan. I also couldn't help but think of the original tragedy that inspired this story and how Frank's plans could actually cause similar damage to his youngest children, the twins, as his plans threaten to remove them from the only home they know (and throw a wrench in Keast's very productive life). It seemed a trite way out of the complex emotional damage that the author developed over the course of the novel, and I was dissatisfied. I also had to read the ending twice to get how she was resolving Benji's complicated adult understanding of the sacrifices that had been made by all involved. It just seemed too rushed. Too many loose threads.
On the whole, though, it was a satisfying read and well worth the time.
September 24, 2019
The writing was good, the concept - a sequel to the events of Puccini’s famous opera Madame Butterfly - engaging and well handled..... until the final few pages. I was disappointed when it seemed as though the author had suddenly run out of steam at that point. Maybe she ran out of ideas, or couldn’t envision what was left for the characters to do or say, where the story could go. She left us all in the lurch, with the narrative trickling to a rather lame ending.
The period detail and the character and plot development and the building of suspense - up until the last chapter - were all very well done. The theme of abandonment was pervasive, which perhaps should have prepared me for the lack of “closure” and the way the author neglected (purposefully?) to tie up many loose ends. But after all of that buildup, everything just evaporated into thin mist and vanished. And not the way you’d hoped.
The period detail and the character and plot development and the building of suspense - up until the last chapter - were all very well done. The theme of abandonment was pervasive, which perhaps should have prepared me for the lack of “closure” and the way the author neglected (purposefully?) to tie up many loose ends. But after all of that buildup, everything just evaporated into thin mist and vanished. And not the way you’d hoped.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2018
This is another of those books that I wanted to like much more than I actually did. The story of Madame Butterfly is haunting and tragic and I was intrigued to imagine what might have happened to her child. This depressing tale was not what I had in mind. There wasn't one likeable major character in the entire book. In addition the use of the opera itself as part of the story made me like everyone even less.
Strangers in a strange land is a common starting point for novels exploring cultural norms and social mores, but the overwhelming sense of unhappiness that surrounds everything makes this a difficult novel to wade through.
I dislike books in which significant plot points are advanced by sheer coincidence and Benji's meeting on the train is guilty of this. In addition the ending is so preposterous that I'm almost sorry I persevered to the climax.
Strangers in a strange land is a common starting point for novels exploring cultural norms and social mores, but the overwhelming sense of unhappiness that surrounds everything makes this a difficult novel to wade through.
I dislike books in which significant plot points are advanced by sheer coincidence and Benji's meeting on the train is guilty of this. In addition the ending is so preposterous that I'm almost sorry I persevered to the climax.
May 6, 2017
This is a good story! But it's a story. I've read some of the other reviews that seemed pretty critical but I think perhaps this genre wasn't there cup of tea....?
Anyhoo, kept me interested and I was able to finish pretty quickly. It touches on a couple topics that I think are still relevant today. Growing up biracial and trying to find your place in society. Benji struggles with being a blonde Japanese-American boy in the early 1900s. His story isn't too far off from current world views. It also briefly and subtlety touches on women's rights.... or the lack there of.
All in all it was engaging and now I really need to know if there is a sequel in the works!!
Anyhoo, kept me interested and I was able to finish pretty quickly. It touches on a couple topics that I think are still relevant today. Growing up biracial and trying to find your place in society. Benji struggles with being a blonde Japanese-American boy in the early 1900s. His story isn't too far off from current world views. It also briefly and subtlety touches on women's rights.... or the lack there of.
All in all it was engaging and now I really need to know if there is a sequel in the works!!
June 30, 2020
This was a "rescue" from donations during the pandemic, and what a great read and find. My neighbor Kim read it first and gave it 2 thumbs up.
Loved it - the story takes the story of "Madame Butterfly" and develops and intricate story surrounding the boy and his journey from being born in Nagasaki to a "Geisha" (or so he thinks) who kills herself when the American father brings a wife back to Japan. They take the boy back to Iowa with them, where his life unravels, as does his father's.
He ultimately finds his way back to Japan, set on finding out about his real roots, with surprises at the end. There is happiness, but the story is really woven beautifully and the imagery is great.
Loved it - the story takes the story of "Madame Butterfly" and develops and intricate story surrounding the boy and his journey from being born in Nagasaki to a "Geisha" (or so he thinks) who kills herself when the American father brings a wife back to Japan. They take the boy back to Iowa with them, where his life unravels, as does his father's.
He ultimately finds his way back to Japan, set on finding out about his real roots, with surprises at the end. There is happiness, but the story is really woven beautifully and the imagery is great.
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