1868- Theodora and her sisters are in mourning after their parents and brother were lost at sea. But whereas her sisters want to go find society husbands, she wishes to stay on the family country estate pursuing her aspirations as a nature illustrator. And her dreams begin to come true when she discovers a butterfly never seen before in Australia.

1868- Clarrie is pregnant out of wedlock with few options. She loses her job, and once her baby is born, has to trust someone to take care of him while she goes and works as a maid for Theodora searching for that rare butterfly. But then her son goes missing and everything is up in the air.

1922- Verity desires to become a journalist, but losing her job at the paper so they can open jobs for more men. But the same day she is canned, things take an interesting turn when she is sent an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball along with an elaborate butterfly costume. She doesn't know who sent them, but she is willing to go to the ball and try and find out. There, she makes a connection and lands a commission to write the history of a charity that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as Verity digs, she begins to uncover a complex mystery that goes back decades. What will she uncover, and who will the truth effect?
_____
Although the title makes it seem like butterflies are central to the story, they are only a subplot in this book that is much more about family and how families are made and maintained. This book has a lot happening in it and little has to do with butterflies.

The first half of this book is slow. It has a lot to set up in both of the timelines to get us to the second half which moves pretty quickly. A lot happens in the second half that you have to really pay attention to get all the layers of the stories. Then the ending is a bit of a let down because there is no grand conclusion. Everything just kinds of wraps up and ends. The pay off wasn't worth it. 

That being said, even though the pacing of this book is a bit of a mess, I still found it interesting. There was a lot happening and I would have liked much more information about the butterflies, but I was engaged and wanted to get to the conclusion (even though it wasn't as satisfying as I would have hoped). 

This was my IRL book club's book for March. It definitely led to some robust discussions and made the book more multifaceted for us as readers. This is a good pick for a buddy read or a book club read. 
_____
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.