The Butterfly’s Daughter

The
BUTTERFLY'S
DAUGHTER

Also by Mary Alice Monroe

Time Is a River

Last Light over Carolina

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Mary Alice Monroe, Ltd.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Gallery Books hardcover edition May 2011

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Designed by Renata Di Biase

Manufactured in the United States of America

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Monroe, Mary Alice.

The butterfly's daughter / by Mary Alice Monroe.

    p. cm.

1. Monarch butterfly—Migration—Fiction. 2. Voyages and travels—Fiction.

3. Self-actualization (Psychology)—Fiction. 4. Mothers and daughters—Fiction.

5. Female friendship—Fiction. 6. Psychological fiction. I. Title.

PS3563.O529B87 2011

813'.54—dc22

2010045544

ISBN 978-1-4391-7061-8

ISBN 978-1-4391-7102-8 (ebook)

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To Lauren McKenna,
who understands the chrysalis will become a butterfly

I have had an amazing education into the marvelous monarch butterfly and the unique phenomenon of its migration, and I owe a debt of gratitude to many people for helping me on this journey.

For riding as my navigator and for expanding my vision of the novel and the characters with grace and wisdom, I thank my sister Marguerite Martino. Loving thanks to Gretta Kruesi for reading drafts and for sharing delightful anecdotes of her adventures on the road.

I'm indebted to Linda Love for her mentorship and an education on raising monarchs. Linda was also a source of information on the topic of equine therapy for drug addiction, which made her a gift from the gods for this novel.

Heartfelt thanks to Lauren McKenna, my editor, for her excitement and support of the story since the book's inception and for the patient and inspirational editing that gave me and my novel wings. Thanks also to Louise Burke, publisher of Gallery Books, for her continuing support of my work. And to my agents Kim Whalen, who loves butterflies as much as we do, and Robert Gottlieb—I'm fortunate to have your advice and support. I also send my thanks to the enthusiastic team at Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.

I warmly thank Angela May for her endless and cheerful support and encouragement in every aspect of this business of
writing a novel, Lisa Minnick for keeping track of the books so I can look after mine, and Ruth Cryns and Diana Namie for countless kindnesses. Many thanks to Barbara Bergwerf for spending hours chronicling the metamorphosis of butterflies with her beautiful photographs; to Leah Greenberg for reading an early draft and for talking through story points; and to Patti Callahan Henry for a memorable retreat for revisions. A special thank you to Suzanne Corrington for her support and the use of her name.

Thank you to Billy McCord of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for an education on tagging monarchs; to Carlos Chacon and Natalie Hefter of the Coastal Discovery Museum for their generosity and time (and monarch eggs); to Sally Murphy for her expertise; and to Bill Russell for pointing me in the right direction for monarch research.

I'm beholden to Trecia Neal and Susan Myers of Monarchs Across Georgia for a truly memorable trip to the butterfly sanctuaries in Michoacán, Mexico, that was both educational and spiritual. Thanks especially to Trecia for reading an early draft of the manuscript for content on butterflies and the Day of the Dead. We were a hearty bunch climbing more than nine thousand feet, and for all their support and camaraderie I fondly nod to Ellen Corrie, David and Mozelle Funderburk, Dave and Audrey Harding, Sharon McCullough, Mary Moyer, Raina Neal, and Cindy and Kathleen Wolfe.

In Mexico, I came to appreciate the threats facing the monarch sanctuaries and am indebted to Jose Luis Alvarez, the head of La Cruz Habitat Protection Project, an amazing organization dedicated to forest restoration in Michoacán. Thanks also to Estella Romero in Angangueo, and to Guadalupe Del Rio and Ana Maria Muniz, founders of Alternare, for their efforts to educate local
farmers about alternatives to logging for the protection of the sanctuaries.

I am indebted to Maraleen Manos-Jones and her wonderful book,
The Spirit of Butterflies,
for inspiration and education about Aztec myths and legends. I read many books and journal articles that educated me and piqued my interest in the subject. Though there are too many to list here, I especially note the following books:
The Last Monarch Butterfly,
by Phil Schappert;
Four Wings and a Prayer,
by Sue Halpern;
Chasing Monarchs,
by Robert Pyle;
An Obsession with Butterflies,
by Sharman Russell;
My Monarch Journal,
by Connie Muther and photographs by Anita Bibeau; and
Through the Eyes of the Soul, Day of the Dead in Mexico,
by Mary J. Andrade. I'd also like to acknowledge the many websites that educate us all about the monarchs—their biology, current status, migration, and rearing—especially Journey North,
www.learner.org/jnorth
; and Monarch Watch,
www.monarchwatch.org
.

Love and thanks to Zachary Kruesi for the backbreaking effort of creating my butterfly garden, and to Claire and John Dwyer for a constant stream of support and for giving me Jack and Teddy, my great joys. And as always, I'm grateful to my husband, Markus, for his expertise in fine-tuning the personalities and problems of my characters, for helping me understand car maintenance, and for his constant support and love throughout this book and others all these many years. I am blessed to be traveling this journey with you.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

—M
AYA
A
NGELOU

The
BUTTERFLY'S
DAUGHTER

T
he
F
all
M
onarch
M
igration

This map represents the routes taken by migrating monarchs to Mexico during the fall migration (September–November). The route reverses during the spring migration as monarchs leave the mountains and follow the milkweed north.

L
ong, long ago, before time began—can you imagine so far back,
querida
? The world was plunged in darkness. There was no dawn. No dusk. It was always night. So the gods journeyed from all points of the compass to gather in Mexico at the Sacred Circle to create a sun. One among them would have to sacrifice herself to the fire and become the new sun that would endure for all time.

The gods called out the challenge: “Who will light the world?”

The gods were silent. Then one god, Tecuciztecatl, stepped forward. He was a proud and vain god. He thought by sacrificing himself he would win immortal fame and glory. While the gods created a great bonfire, Tecuciztecatl painted his body in brilliant colors, put on flame-colored feathers, and adorned himself with gold and turquoise. When the blaze was roaring the gods called out, “Jump now into the flames!”

Tecuciztecatl stood before the inferno, felt its great heat, and lost his courage.