The Butterfly’s Daughter

Luz Avila, a young woman of 20, was raised by her grandmother because Luz was told her mother, Mariposa, was dead. When Abuela died from a sudden heart attack, Luz felt compelled to bring her ashes to her hometown in Mexico to meet the family she had only heard about. Luz wanted Abuela to rest in peace in the family’s cemetery. 

The Butterfly’s Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe is a heartfelt novel about family, death, love, and the amazing connections that exist between generations. Luz learns that discovering where we come from helps us to understand who we are and where we belong. 

Monroe also brings nature into the mix by making the monarch butterfly a meaningful symbol throughout the novel. There’s a juxtaposition between the monarch’s amazing journey from its North American birthplace to its winter home high in the mountains of Mexico. Her writing shows the importance of preserving the natural world and an emotional family story. 

The Butterfly’s Daughter encourages us to look beyond ourselves and appreciate our heritage, cherish the people we love, and recognize the fragile beauty of the world around us. It’s a touching novel beautifully written reminding us we all have a journey to make, just like the monarch butterfly, and sometimes that journey leads us home.