Good
Copy 75b5aa31344
Condition notes
Tidy condition
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$8.00
Butterfly Chair
$8.00
Brief description
The Butterfly Chair is a psychological novel that follows Else, a woman in her 30s struggling to understand and come to terms with her traumatic past. When she was a girl, Else witnessed a devastating event on a lonely country road in rural Canada: her abusive father murdered her mother and then took his own...
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- Published 1988
- Pre-owned
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About this book
Description
The Butterfly Chair is a psychological novel that follows Else, a woman in her 30s struggling to understand and come to terms with her traumatic past. When she was a girl, Else witnessed a devastating event on a lonely country road in rural Canada: her abusive father murdered her mother and then took his own life. Before that tragedy, her family appeared idyllic—sailboat, big house, happy life—but the reality was very different, with underlying abuse and fear shaping Else’s childhood memories.
As an adult, Else is hesitant about love and marriage, wary of repeating past patterns. Her internal journey toward healing begins when she confronts her memories and seeks to piece together a fuller picture of her parents’ lives, especially her father’s dark, unpredictable nature. She revisits old acquaintances—former doctors, a minister, friends—and forces herself to recall painful truths she’d long suppressed or distorted to protect herself. Gradually, through reflection and confronting the pain of her past (symbolized in part by a butterfly chair she sits in during moments of self-examination), she begins to forge a fragile acceptance and understanding of what shaped her.
The novel blends introspective narrative with Else’s attempts to reconcile love, blame, and forgiveness as she tries to move beyond the shadow of her family history.
Tidy condition.
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