Black Butterflies — Sara Alexi

Marina is a gentle soul who makes a modest living in her corner shop. Her husband died years ago, and her children have grown up. Life is pleasantly predictable, if a little dull.

But not even her daughters know that thirty five years ago Marina spent lonely months on a nearby island, and the events of that summer have haunted her ever since.

Now Marina's daughter is planning to move to the same island and the past and present threaten to collide with dreadful consequences.

Black Butterflies follows Marina reluctantly revisiting the island. She has a plan, of sorts, to avert possible tragedy but in doing so she will come face to face with the consequences of her long kept secret. Will she be in time, and why does she never go anywhere without her big black bag?

Packed with a troupe of colourful characters that intertwine in a gripping story, Black Butterflies is by turn uproariously funny, touching or sad.

Exploring themes of bigotry and how doing what we think is for the best can unwittingly harm those we love, this is a gentle journey to one woman's redemption.

If you enjoyed Black Butterflies, you may like the other books in the series:

The Illegal Gardener
The Explosive Nature of Friendship
The Gypsy's Dream
The Art of Becoming Homeless
In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree