This book that has been on my to read shelf for a couple of years, but it was not until this month that I decided to pick it up. The reason? My daughter just made her role debut in the opera Madama Butterfly!! The book became a must read NOW! I agree with other reviewers that the author did a good job of painting a picture of Midwest farm life and attitudes in the late 19th century, as well as researching both the time and place of both the US and Japan during this period. I encourage others to read interviews with the author about that aspect of the writing process. I was totally surprised by the final outcome of the novel and felt the author did a great job of capturing the reactions and feelings of the central characters. I highly recommend this book. ( )

I just finished Butterfly's Child.
I was surprised to discover that this book is the continuation of the story of Madame Butterfly.
I found the first 100 pages of the book difficult, not because they weren't written well, because they were, but because I didn't like any of the characters and that included the unfortunate little boy. I understand his life was turned on its head, but I felt to pity for him after a certain point. Then toward the 100th page I did and that's when the book picked up.
It's a nice read and causes you to want to know how this all plays out.
The ending is satisfying and if you're willing to trudge through the 100 pages is worth the read. ( )

Recently I've been dealing with a lot of stress and tragedy in my personal life, so a book with a tragic central premise would not have been my first pick. Frankly, if I didn't have to review this one, I probably wouldn't have picked it up -- and I would have lost out on a truly moving, deliciously sad read.

Inspired by Puccini's opera, Madame Butterfly, the story is set in the late 1890s and follows Benji, a half-Japanese, half-American boy born to a Nagasaki geisha, Cio-Cio. He's adopted at age five when his father, Frank Pinkterton, returns to Japan on his honeymoon with his American wife, Kate. Upon learning of Frank's abandonment of her, Cio-Cio kills herself and begs Frank to take care of their son. Frank and Kate conspire to hide Benji's true birth, and they invent a story about seeing him at a Christian orphanage and being moved to adopt him. They return to their Illinois farm where they live with Frank's mother, the eyes of this small town on them. You can imagine what drama unfolds.

I was very apprehensive about how Davis-Gardner would handle Kate, Frank's wife. I anticipated hating Frank and wanting to take Kate's side, but I am not so stony-hearted as to hate a child, and so I felt some immediate sympathy for Benji. Davis-Gardner felt the same way, I think, for all her characters behaved rather humanly -- and humanely -- and I found myself rather fond and sympathetic of everyone, even Frank (well, maybe not Frank). Kate was my favorite character by far: a missionary's daughter, she grew up in China and had a fondness for the 'Orient', and it was her idea they honeymoon in Japan. It was that trip that led to their discovery of Frank's child, and she understandably waffles throughout the book as to how she feels about Benji, her marriage, and her husband.

The novel explores Benji's childhood and his own search for family, and the way loss seems to beget more loss. There's a twist later in the book that I suspect will split readers, but as sort of improbable as it might be, it worked for me, as it had an operatic feel to it. (Operas have some of the most over-the-top plot twists around.)

You don't need to be familiar with the opera to appreciate this story. Not only does Davis-Gardner include a summary of the opera, but her novel stands alone -- she sets up the whole story within the first chapter, and I dare anyone not to be sucked in. This isn't a fan fic of the opera, either, but a very real examination of adoption, identity, love, depression, and early 20th century farm life. There's a blurb from Jennifer Egan on the back, about how the book "dominated" her thoughts after finishing, and I have to agree: this isn't a book I could shake off. I chewed it over, savored the sadness, and wondered at what could have been done differently. (This would make a great book club selection!) ( )

When you read a marvelous book and you close that last page, have you ever had the characters continue to live on in your head, going beyond the end of the tale the author told, living lives no one else has ever imagined? This certainly happens to me although not as much as it used to when I was younger. And it clearly happens for people who write fan fiction and sequels. Obviously the same thing happened for Angela Davis-Gardner and as a result of her inability to leave Cio-Cio and Pinkerton's small child tragically orphaned on the stage at the end of the opera Madame Butterfly, we have her marvelous and engrossing novel Butterfly's Child.

As in the opera, the novel opens with Cio-Cio waiting for Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton's return to Japan, convinced that he will in fact come back to her and the son he never knew he had. But when he does return, it is with an American wife. Butterfly commits hairi-kiri out of love and desperation and Pinkerton and his devout wife Kate are left to decide young biracial Benji's fate. They choose to take him back to Illinois with them to their farm but instead of Pinkerton's claiming paternity, they say that Benji is an orphan whom they've adopted as is their Christian duty.

Life is not easy on the farm. Pinkerton never planned to work on it, Kate wasn't raised as a farm wife, and Benji is desperately afloat in a culture he doesn't trust with people he doesn't know and who are having a hard time caring for him emotionally given the way he remains a constant reminder of Butterfly for both Pinkertons. Without the love and caring at home to build his sense of worth, the petty racism he encounters daily in the small town is terribly isolating. Only a few people treat him as a full, intelligent human being. And so he never stops dreaming of leaving Illinois and going back to Japan to find his mother's family. When the secret of his paternity leaks out in this provincial and small-minded town, the repercussions tear the Pinkerton family apart and Benji runs away to make his long desired journey back to Japan.

The historical detail and accuracy of attitudes and beliefs are fantastic here. Davis-Gardner really captures the difficulty of being bi-racial at the turn of the 20th century, not only in the US but also in Japan. The hardship of working on a farm over tough years is realistically depicted. The Japanese areas of larger American cities are carefully detailed and brought to life. The casual racism of the time threads through Benji's everyday life just exactly as it would have, touching and soiling so much.

In Benji, Davis-Gardner has created a sad, woeful character whose search for identity and acceptance is all external until he realizes that only by finding himself within will he finally be at ease in a world not amenable to people like him. Pinkerton is a fairly loathesome character and just as in the opera, the reader wonders what both Cio-Cio and then Kate could ever have seen in the man. Kate is very buttoned-up and constrained and she tries her hardest but she ultimately finds herself unable to rise above the prejudices of the day and her eventual succumbing to deep depression is a not unexpected fate for her. Pinkerton's mother, while gruff, is one of the more sympathetic characters as is Keast, the veterinarian who takes a real and heartfelt interest in Benji.

The plot, starting with the end of the opera and growing from there, has a desultory feel to it, unspooling slowly toward a series of surprising climaxes. Benji's life in American with his father and stepmother draws out far longer than his adult life in Japan although the latter is equally as, or even more, interesting than his farm years. Just as Benji left them behind, Frank and Kate's stories are wrapped up tidily and fairly quickly in the end, the more interesting secondary characters are briefly mentioned, and the focus is solely on Benji again and the losses he's chosen to accept by only being one half of his heritage. A thoughtful and appealing tale that not only takes inspiration from the opera but also cleverly incorporates it into the tale itself, this search for self was a delight to read. ( )

Madame Butterfly, the famous opera by Puccini is the driving force behind Butterfly's Child, the novel (the opera being based on a short story.) Ms. Davis-Gardner imagines the story behind the opera and presents it as it might have happened.

From the beginning there is a feeling of both despair and hope mixed into the writing. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, a naval officer has his affair with Cio-Cio (Butterfly) and he leaves not knowing of the birth of his son. Butterfly sits waiting, knowing that he will return. He sends her money every month so he must care! When he does return though, it is on his honeymoon. In despair Butterfly sends a note to Frank and he arrives at her home to find her dead at her own hand with little Benji wailing. He and his wife decide to take the boy back to America and raise him as an orphan child they adopted while in Japan.

Frank arrives back in America to take over the family farm. Benji is not warmly welcomed into the community. His obvious mixed race leads to bullying from both children and adults as he grows up; only a few people people embrace him. He clings to the few reminders he has of a childhood he barely remembers.

Secrets never stay secrets forever and Benji's comes out to the detriment of all involved. Benji leaves determined to go back "home" to Japan but he learns along the way that he does not fit in there any more than he fits in with his American family. He must forge his place in life as he searches for the family he was forced to leave.

This story of cultures clashing with an innocent child caught in the middle was well written and I found it hard to put down. Benji was an enterprising, enjoyable character. I was disappointed that his time in Japan and the ending seemed somewhat short changed compared to his time with his father in America. Once he finds his way to his place of birth the story seemed to lose its momentum. The detail so prevalent in the beginning was missing I suppose. Many questions were left unanswered so I do wonder if a sequel is planned and perhaps that is the reason.

It was overall a fascinating look at small town America and its attitude towards Japan at the end of the 19th century. Not to mention the city vs. farm social structures and attitudes. ( )