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    The Butterfly Girl: A Novel
    The Butterfly Girl: A Novel
    The Butterfly Girl: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Butterfly Girl: A Novel

    Written by Rene Denfeld

    Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

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    About this audiobook

    The Butterfly Girl is a riveting novel that ripples with truth, exploring the depths of love and sacrifice in the face of a past that cannot be left dead and buried.

    A year ago, Naomi, the investigator with an uncanny ability for finding missing children, made a promise that she would not take another case until she finds the younger sister who has been missing for years. Naomi has no picture, not even a name. All she has is a vague memory of a strawberry field at night, black dirt under her bare feet as she ran for her life.

    The search takes her to Portland, Oregon, where scores of homeless children wander the streets like ghosts, searching for money, food, and companionship. The sharp-eyed investigator soon discovers that young girls have been going missing for months, many later found in the dirty waters of the river. Though she does not want to get involved, Naomi is unable to resist the pull of children in need—and the fear she sees in the eyes of a twelve-year old girl named Celia. Running from an abusive stepfather and an addict mother, Celia has nothing but hope in the butterflies—her guides and guardians on the dangerous streets. She sees them all around her, tiny iridescent wisps of hope that soften the edges of this hard world and illuminate a cherished memory from her childhood—the Butterfly Museum, a place where everything is safe and nothing can hurt her.

    As danger creeps closer, Naomi and Celia find echoes of themselves in one another, forcing them each to consider the question: Can you still be lost even when you’ve been found? But will they find the answer too late?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 1, 2019
    ISBN9780062958228
    Author

    Rene Denfeld

    Rene Denfeld is a bestselling author, licensed investigator, and foster mother. She is the author of the novels The Butterfly Girl, The Child Finder and The Enchanted. Her novels have won numerous awards including a French Prix, and The New York Times named her a 2017 hero of the year. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

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    Reviews for The Butterfly Girl

    4/5

    136 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I loved it. Naomi was a great character and she’s unique for sure. I’m glad there was a second book to Child Finder. The street children are heart wrenching.
    • 2/5
      Had such high hopes for this book and was well and truly let down due to all that I loced about the first book was nit in this one or if it was it was the last forth of the book. I will not be continuing with this story if the series does.
    • 4/5
      I read The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld awhile back, and have been wanting to read this sequel to that novel. As in the first book, this book is hard to listen to (I listened on audiobook). Denfeld spares no punches when she describes what all the lost and missing children go through in their short lives. Naomi and Jerome, at the end of the last book, were on a mission to find her missing sister, who Naomi hasn't seen for twenty years. Both girls were taken when they were young--Naomi at age 4 and Sarah at age 2. Naomi manages to escape from where they have been held, but can't come back for her sister, and now 20+ years later, she has tracked her down to Iowa. Naomi remembers nothing about her life before her abduction. She can't even remember the name of her little sister. While searching Naomi comes across a young street girl called Celia. Naomi is strangely drawn to this girl, and she tries to help her, but Celia was horribly abused as a young child by her stepfather, and doesn't trust anyone. Naomi discovers a large number of nameless graves in the local graveyard. The graves belong to small children and none are identified, and while she and Jerome are in town, children's bodies are being found in the river. Naomi and Jerome know that something terrible has been happening in this small town for a long time. The book moves along at a quick pace, and more and more horrors are uncovered, but they don't seem to be leading Naomi to her lost sister, until they get a break from something they find in the town archives. This is a terrific two-book series which I highly recommend. The books are raw and horrific, but somehow the book appears to be filled with hope too.
    • 5/5
      I loved the child finder and was really excited when I saw that there was a sequel but it didn't quite live up to its predecessor, but it almost did and it's still a five-star read. This is Naomi's search for her sister, who she abandoned when she ran away from captivity age nine and has been carrying the guilt around ever since. It also ties in with a serial killer who has been targeting street kids. Rene Denefield was a street kid herself and you can tell, as she writes from the point of view of a 12-year-old girl, homeless due to a junkie mother and a predatory stepfather.
    • 2/5
      2.5 Jumped into the second in the series unknowingly, and felt a little lost because of it, though got the gist. Naomi is the "child finder" (title of book 1, duh) and has dedicated her life to being a private investigator who specializes in finding lost children. This is due to the trauma she suffered in her own life of being held captive in some bunker and escaping, but leaving her younger sister behind. This is all she vaguely remembers, but it haunts her every move. She is searching for this same sister, even though she is now 25 years old. Currently her search has brought her to Portland, OR, where young women and girls on the street are disappearing and turning up dead in the river. Naomi's story runs parallel to Celia's, one of the street urchins, who also tried to 'save' her younger sister (from a sexually abusive step-father) but at age 12 has ended up on the streets instead though she still has occasional contact with her mother (drug addict) and her sister. Celia is wary, worn, and like many of the other homeless children, almost feral. She withdraws into a world of butterflies and the public librarian is kind enough to find books that foster this obsession. It is a transparent metaphor for Celia herself. This story is gritty and somewhat compelling, but sometimes the pieces slide too conveniently into place and sometimes I felt like I was missing something (book 1 probably, which explained better - I'm guessing - her marriage to Jerome and her friendship with Diane since they don't figure prominently here). The author has a personal connection at stake with this topic, so I don't want to judge too harshly, but this wouldn't make my highlights of the year cut.
    • 4/5
      In the first book of this series, we were introduced to PI Naomi Cottle, known as the Child Finder due to her specialty of finding missing children.Naomi remembers fleeing captivity as a small child and leaving a younger sister behind. Beyond that she has no memory of her life before foster care.In this second novel, she is obsessed with finding what became of her little sister. She follows the slim details she has – the area where she herself was found. Focusing on Portland, she hopes to find news of her sister among the street people and the street kids. She befriends Celia, a homeless girl Celia whose story is told in alternate chapters. Naomi is also horrified to find evidence of a series of murdered and missing street girls. She can only hope her help does not come too late.I found this riveting – and all too believable. The subjects of child abduction, sex slavery, and the uncared for street kids are hard to read – and yet come together in this hard to put down book.
    • 4/5
      A solid follow-up to the stunning Child Finder, it was good to spend time with Naomi and Jerome again as they help street kids.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld is an emotionally harrowing mystery. Although this second installment in the Naomi Cottle series can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend book one, The Child Finder, as well.

      Still searching for her missing sister, Naomi Cottle and her husband Jerome are staying with her friend, Diane, in Portland, OR.  Naomi has scant information about her life before and during captivity due to her memory loss surrounding their horrific kidnapping as very young children. She managed to escape the underground bunker where the kidnapper was holding them and she has never seen her sister again. Naomi is drawn to Portland where numerous homeless girls have been murdered but do these present day events have anything to do with her past?

      While seeking information about her sister among the homeless community, Naomi crosses paths with twelve year old Celia on more than one occasion. Celia had no choice but to leave her drug addicted mother after her stepfather was acquitted of molesting her. She remains incredibly worried he will abuse her younger sister Alyssa but she is powerless to do anything expect try to convince her mother to leave her stepfather. Celia escapes her hopeless situation with visits to the library where she pores over books about butterflies. She and two other kids stick together in an effort to stay as safe as possible. But will Celia manage to avoid becoming the killer's next victim?

      While not working any active missing children cases, Naomi does uncover valuable information about the murders of the young girls. Turning these details over to the local police and FBI,  she continues her search for her missing sister.  Shocking details about her and her sister's life before their kidnapping unexpectedly opens a new avenue in her investigation.  Naomi is inching closer to possibly learning the truth about what happened to them, but will this new information lead her to her sister?

      The Butterfly Girl is a poignant mystery that provides a heart wrenching portrait of life on the streets. Celia's plight is absolutely heartbreaking as she continues to try to protect her younger sister. Naomi is clearly struggling as she puts her search for her sister ahead of her marriage and friendship. With the pieces of the puzzle quickly falling into place, Rene Denfeld brings this suspenseful mystery to a  surprisingly uplifting conclusion. I highly recommend this riveting installment to old and new fans of the  Naomi Cottle series.
    • 4/5
      The Butterfly Girl, Rene Denfeld, author; Alyssa Bresnahan, narratorTwo children, who were living in an orphanage in a farm town in Oregon, suddenly went missing and were never found. The Child Finder, Naomi Cottle, was one of those children. When she escaped, at age 9, she had left her younger sister behind. She was in shock, and could remember very little, she did not even remember her sister’s name. She was unable to lead the authorities back to where she had been captive. They could not find her little sister.Naomi was placed in the care of a kind and loving foster parent who helped her recover. It was there that she met Jerome, a Native American Indian, who was now her husband. He had also been a foster child living with Mrs. Cottle. He, too, recovered from his painful past with the help of this wonderful woman. Now, just about two decades after her escape, both 30 years old, they are searching for her sister. Naomi believed that her sister might still be alive. Their efforts have taken them back, full circle, to the place it all began, in Oregon. She and Jerome were staying with Naomi’s friend Diane.Although she was hoping to find her alive, even though so much time had passed, when she heard of the Green River Killer, a murderer who was dumping women into the river, she feared one of them might be her sister. She was drawn into the investigation which was so close to the place where she had been abducted so many years ago.As she walked about town posting flyers and questioning residents about her sister, she met street children, young kids living from hand to mouth on handouts. They were always in danger. Celia was one of the kids on skid row. She was 12, almost 13 years old, and had been on the street for 9 months. She had brought criminal charges against her stepfather. When he was acquitted she ran away from home to escape further physical and sexual abuse. Her mother, addicted to drugs because of him, had vouched for him, and so Celia was branded as a liar. Now she goes back home occasionally, only when he is gone, in order to check on her 6 year old sister, Alyssa, and to clean up the house. Her mother is generally stoned. She doesn’t think that her stepfather has sexually abused her sister yet and has no idea how to protect her. Meanwhile, Naomi is looking for a needle in a haystack. She doesn’t know her sister’s name, first or last, and she has no photo of her, but she relates her story and tells those that she meets that her sister is approximately 25 years old now. She and her sister had been kept underground. It was a terrible story. She notices a scar-faced disheveled man watching Celia who hangs out at the library reading a book about butterflies. She puts notes into the book so that someday, someone will find them and know that she existed. She imagines that she is a butterfly and can fly away. Naomi wonders if the scar-faced man is a danger to Celia. She is drawn to Celia and Celia is drawn to her.Will Naomi find out anything about her sister? Will Celia be safe? This novel skillfully delves into the lives of runaways. Their reasons, experiences and various deprivations are explored compassionately, offering insight into the lives of troubled youth. Is there hope for their future?
    • 4/5
      Well done sequel! A year after the events in "The Child Finder" Naomi is fully focused on finding her sister. This takes her on quite a few journeys, and she ends up in the skid row section of Portland, Oregon and meeting a street kid named Celia. Several story lines are shooting around this book, and when they intersect, well it's magic! This is my third Denfeld read, and all 3 have been a treat! The only reason I didn't give this a full 5 stars, is that I grew a bit tired of all of the butterfly references and descriptions. HOWEVER, the ending really made those even more magical! A very satisfying, and well written read!
    • 5/5
      Rene Denfeld follows up her last novel, The Child Finder (devoured it in a day) with The Butterfly Girl.This latest continues the story of Naomi and the search for her missing sister. Naomi is a private investigator with a specialty - she finds children - lost, stolen, missing and kidnapped. She seems to have an uncanny ability to ferret out clues and traces of a child's passing or presence. That ability is honed from experience - she too was a lost child. She escaped, but has no memory of what came before that time.A year has passed, a year of following hunches - and Naomi senses she is close when she arrives in Portland, Oregon.....The reader knows more than Naomi - we're privy to the what is happening with the children on the streets of Portland through one girl's voice. The danger is palpable and we can only urge Naomi forward. But is she any closer to finding her sister? Tension populates the pages of The Butterfly Girl. And turned this into a one sitting read for me.Naomi is such a great lead character - driven, determined, intelligent, but wounded. The supporting cast of Jerome and Diane are just as complex and have their own stories to tell. And the young players at the heart of the book will break your heart.Denfeld's measured prose conjure up detailed images and ideas. The novel is never rushed, despite the urgency of the search. Ties between the characters are explored, as is the relationship with one's self - all with a keen eye for the human condition. As with The Child Finder, love, loss, redemption and the power of the human spirit are woven throughout The Butterfly Girl.Gentle readers, note that there are abuse triggers in this novel. How is Denfeld able to capture and portray such difficult situations and events with such a keen eye and thoughtful voice? This quote from the author's notes speaks volumes...."This book was raised by libraries and love. I wouldn't be a writer today if not for the public libraries of my difficult childhood, and the books that saved me with story. I will never forget the librarians of the downtown Portland, Oregon, library who expressed care for me when I, too, was a homeless kid. Thank you for showing me a path through the pain, and the beauty in the darkness." "Thank you to my clients in my day job as a public defense investigator, including the trafficking victims, homeless, refugees, immigrants, veterans and others who have filled my life."Another excellent read from Denfeld. I'm hoping there's going to be another Naomi book.
    • 4/5
      A second outing for Naomi, the child finder. She has vowed not to work anymore cases until she finds her sister. The problem is she remembers so little of the place she escaped from, she only remembers singing to her little sister when she was afraid. Young street girls are bring murdered, their bodies pulled from the river. This gets Naomis attention and she and her husband travel to find out whatever they can. She meets a young girl, Celia,only twelve living on the street, who may have answers she doesn't know she has.As a former street child herself, our authors paints these scenes with accuracy and poinancy. Another group of throwaway people, children, that as a society we look away from. Denfeld also includes something that makes her stories memorable, in this case butterflies. You will have to read to find out what they mean in the book. Lastly, it is a book about sisters, the ties that bind, showing how far one will go to protect someone they love. I love her books because besides being mysteries, they are darn good at poking holes in the way we view our society. There is always a message, but are we strong enough to see. ARC from Edelweiss.