Review
Disturbing and thought-provoking, says Verbal.
- The Butterfly Cabinet
- Headline Review
Pinned
The Butterfly Cabinet is an intriguing story of the events leading up to the death of a child in a wealthy home on the North Antrim Coast in the late nineteenth century.
It is certainly a gripping novel, although not a straightforward who-done-it detective story. Through a prison diary written by the child’s mother and the reminiscences of an old nanny, the complex sequence of events leading up to the tragedy is slowly laid out. The plot depends on suspense and uncertainty, as the story unfolds gradually up until the very last pages where the last strand is finally revealed. Providing plenty of psychological insight, the intimate nature of these accounts will leave you unable to fully sympathise with or completely condemn any of the characters. The humanity of both of the main narrators is striking. It raises the questions of what we can learn from the past, what lies beneath the surface of an apparently simple story, and whether a person’s character is developed by nature or nurture. Disturbing and thought-provoking, the story is nevertheless not entirely gloomy; it is an examination of how to deal with the past in the midst of hope for the future. Bernie McGill’s writing style involves a combination of poetry and local influence, and this novel is hard to put down; a truly absorbing and cleverly written tale that will send a shiver down your spine.
Verbal