Where Butterflies Wander

Where Butterflies Wander is a realist fiction novel by award-winning author Suzanne Redfearn, published in 2024. It became an Amazon bestseller in 2024. Redfearn wrote six novels prior to Where Butterflies Wander, receiving the 2020 Best New Fiction Award (Best Book Awards) for In An Instant. Where Butterflies Wander takes place in 2023-2024 America, with flashbacks to the early 2000s, especially the war in Afghanistan. The plot centers around a family who moves to the New Hampshire wilderness to escape Death and the Grieving Process after losing a child to drowning. Their experiences demonstrate How Memory Shapes the Present as well as The Nature of Fate and Chance. The family also discovers how The Problem of Superficiality can blind someone to what matters most.

This guide refers to the 2024 Lake Union Publishing edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, child death, and mental illness.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with a letter to Davina from her adoptive mother, Rosalinda, sent after Davina was severely injured in a truck explosion while touring as a nurse in Afghanistan. The letter details Davina’s childhood and her relationship with Rosalinda. They met after Davina and her mother escaped Davina’s corrupt father and moved to remote New Hampshire, New England. When Davina’s mother died, Rosalinda took her in and became her “second mother,” teaching her the power of natural healing and showing her how to navigate the river.

Twenty-two years later, Davina is living in a cabin by the same river. The cabin was given to Davina by “the colonel,” a man who helped raise Davina and who owned the large property on which the cabin stands. The colonel has since died, and his granddaughter Marie Egide is now moving into a nearby cabin, on the same property, with her family. They plan to renovate and sell the land. Marie and her husband, Leo, are moving there with their children, Penelope, Hannah, and Brendon, after the death of Penelope’s twin, Bee. Bee drowned in the family pool when Brendon was distracted by his phone. Marie spent her childhood on the family estate, and memories come flooding back, but she still intends to sell the property.

Penelope spots a blue and white butterfly, which she believes is Bee. She follows the butterfly into the woods, and it takes her to Davina’s cabin. When Penelope sees Davina chopping up a rabbit and notices that her face is scarred, she runs in terror, telling everyone that she saw a monster. Meanwhile, Brendon is guilt-ridden about Bee’s drowning and isolates himself from the family. Hannah deals with continual debilitating migraines. Davina leaves Hannah a note with some natural medicine attached to it. The medicine works, and Hannah is intrigued by Davina. The next day, Hannah meets Rock, a local boy who is close with Davina and who helps out on the property. Rock and Hannah’s connection is instant. When Hannah’s mother finds out about the medicine from Davina, she becomes irate at both Hannah and Davina and disposes of the medicine. She sees this as another reason why Davina should leave as soon as possible. Leo disagrees, believing that Davina has lived there so long that she deserves to stay.

Davina helps Hannah by teaching her how to swim upstream in the river to get rid of tension in her body. Penelope sees how much better Hannah feels and decides that she wants to meet Davina. Hannah wants more medicine after Marie disposes of it. Penelope is nervous at first but quickly sees that Davina is a friendly and kind woman. Davina shows Penelope her garden filled with butterflies, and they discuss Bee’s death. Davina gives Penelope a bee balm flower to plant at the house to attract butterflies. When Brendon goes to Davina’s cabin to use her internet, Davina’s cat attacks Brendon’s dog, Banjo, and Davina breaks up the fight. Brendon goes home and tells the story in his favor, at which Marie visits Davina and tells her to leave. Davina is adamant about staying on the land and claims that her cabin was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. Marie cannot sell the property with Davina living on it. She gives Davina two weeks to leave, and Davina taunts Marie by telling her how hurt her grandfather was when Marie left.

Following this, Davina thinks back to when a truck she was in exploded in Afghanistan. She was the only survivor and often wonders whether it was luck or fate that allowed her to live. She recalls how her husband disappeared with their daughter, Rose, after Davina was injured in war and how she never heard from them again. Meanwhile, Rock invites Hannah to dinner at his home.

When Marie finds out that Davina’s cabin will need to be taken down to meet current sale regulations, she decides to take Davina to court. Davina is served with a notice to attend trial. When Leo offers to pay for her to move, she refuses. At the trial, Davina’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is triggered by a sudden noise, and she is unable to argue her case effectively. Marie wins the case, and Davina is ordered never to return to the cabin. This immediate eviction is a shock to Davina and also makes Marie feel guilty. People from the community and elsewhere protest it, staying on the nearby property and yelling at the family whenever they come and go. After a stone is thrown through a window, Leo becomes very protective and sleeps with a gun on his lap. PTSD causes Davina to forget about the eviction, and she returns to the cabin. Hannah and Penelope find her the next day and are alarmed by how out of sorts she seems.

Penelope tells her mother that it’s wrong to make Davina leave, but Marie has already made up her mind. Still, she decides to talk to Davina to see if she needs help. When she arrives, however, she finds Davina talking to a news crew and believes that Davina faked her PTSD symptoms to garner sympathy and take revenge on Marie. Hannah and Rock kiss, and Hannah finds herself falling in love with him. One night, she sees Davina being taken away in a police car, and Marie admits that she had Davina arrested. Brendon deliberately burns the cabin down. Leo, Hannah, and Marie try to put out the fire and save the cabin, unaware of who started it, but it burns to the ground. Hearing this news from the sheriff while in jail, Davina is deeply shocked.

Leo suffers burns on his hands from the fire. Marie returns to the site to try and salvage some of Davina’s belongings. Three days later, Leo takes the girls to visit Davina, and Davina gives Penelope a frog charm that she bought in Afghanistan. Leo thinks that he is doing a good deed when he pulls out an envelope that shows proof that Davina is the daughter of an extremely wealthy man. Davina already knew this and had left that life behind for a reason. Davina later hears that a sympathetic stranger purchased Rosalinda’s old house for Davina and that Davina can move in within a few days. Meanwhile, Marie finds out that Hannah is still taking Davina’s medicine and accuses her of going against her family. Hannah and Penelope go to the basement of the house and search for useful things to give Davina for her new home. Penelope finds photo albums filled with pictures of Davina and her family with Marie and Marie’s grandfather.

Davina sits in her shed, listening to the rain. Brendon sits by the river thinking about everything that has happened. When Banjo’s leg gets caught in a trap, Davina injures her hand rescuing him. Brendon takes the injured woman and dog into town by boat to get medical attention. Davina realizes that Brendon started the fire and suggests that he make amends for his errors. When Marie comes to the animal hospital, she notices gasoline splatters on Brendan’s shoes and realizes that he lit the cabin on fire.

While Davina lies in the hospital, Hannah and Penelope go to the cabin site and find Marie sitting amongst the rubble. They decide not to disturb her and return home, where they find Brendon scraping old paint off the house. Brendon counts his good deeds one by one, hoping to make up for his past. Davina asks Brendan to visit her, and Marie thinks about how divided her family has become. She considers that maybe focusing on material gain has led to conflict and more heartache. Penelope gives Brendon some of the old photos to take to Davina. Davina tells Brendon that she isn’t going to tell anyone about the arson and asks him to drive her boat to her new home for her. Rock breaks up with Hannah, her first taste of heartbreak, but they make up quickly.

Marie decides to move back to their original house, which her family wants to do. The family decides not to try outrunning the memory of Bee. Learning from Davina, they want to keep themselves as connected as possible to those memories. Davina has a housewarming party, and Marie stops by to leave something in Davina’s mailbox: the contact information for Davina’s daughter. Davina and her daughter are joyfully reunited, and Davina is happier than she believed possible.