Where Butterflies Wander

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and child death.

Death and the grieving process are at the foundation of Where Butterflies Wander, and the plot centers around decisions based in grief and loss. The novel shows this process through comparable parallel experiences: Marie and her family have recently lost a daughter and sister in Bee, and Davina has been grieving the loss of her own daughter her whole life. Each major character is shown dealing with this experience of grief differently, and the novel explores how these experiences can either work to add support to the social system or detract from it. While Leo has become more cautious and protective since Bee’s death, Marie has become irritated, on edge, impulsive, and lost in her thoughts. She puts her focus into material gains to distract herself from her emotions, and the death of one child negatively affects her relationship with the children who are still alive and their ability to process their own grief. The novel is non-judgmental, however, in showing Marie’s response to grief as a matter of survival: “Forward, forward, forward…it takes enormous effort, each breath, each step. But I will do it, an inch or a millimeter at a time.