An easy read. Not terribly well written unfortunately but it was sufficiently interesting for a quick holiday read.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. great descriptions and enjoyable plot and characters! I've read this author before and will do so again in the future!

I really wanted to love this book as the premise seemed so good but it just didn’t do it for me. I felt like nothing was really happening but I also wasn’t drawn into any kind of mystery or suspense. I think that I’d gone into it expecting the wrong thing so totally my own fault and not the authors that I didn’t enjoy it. Therefore 3 stars as I think had it been the right genre I would’ve enjoyed it.

An intriguing family saga, the perfect indulgent read.

I got totally swept away by the beautiful imagery into this tale of love & loss. The gradually unfolding secrets keep you captivated throughout the tale.

This suspenseful, shocking novel is a must-read!

Thanks to Pan Macmillan & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The latest family saga from Lucinda Riley sweeps from Southwold in Suffolk to Bodmin Moor, London to Cambridge, carrying with it the tangled secrets of three generations. ‘The Butterfly Room’ is a big book, 640 pages, but I didn’t notice. This is so much more than a romance, though there is love – and betrayal – in its pages; at the centre of it all is Admiral House in Southwold, the home of the Montague family.
The book opens in 1944 as Posy Montague catches butterflies with her Spitfire pilot father, just before he returns to the airforce for the last few months of the war. I actually found this a stuttering start, the first person voice of a seven-year old is difficult to pull off convincingly, even if she is bookish and described as ‘precocious’... a sharp, intelligent child, but one who doesn’t understand the behaviour of adults around her. In fact this first chapter is something of a prologue, setting up behaviour which rattles through the following generations. The story really took off for me when the 2006 strands start - Posy, now seventy; son Nick and girlfriend Tammy; daughter-in-law Amy; old friend Freddie and novelist lodger Sebastian. Off page, Posy married and was widowed, returning to Southwold to open up the family home. She hadn’t been there since her father was killed at the end of the war and Posy went to live with her grandmother in Devon. She raised her family in the house but now it is creaking and crumbling around her, it is too big for her and costs too much to keep going. There is some mystery about Admiral House, something happened there of which Posy is still unaware, but which is going to be disturbed as she sells the house in order to downsize. I had my guesses, and I was wrong.
The luxury of telling a story with this inter-generational scope is that it is possible to feature a number of characters in depth. Posy is the lynchpin of the book and at the centre of her family’s lives. And so we explore her eldest son Sam and his marriage to Amy, who is mistreated, downtrodden but full of love and determination. Posy’s second son Nick, a successful antiques dealer in Australia, has returned home to set up a new business. In London he meets former model Tammy, who is setting up her vintage fashion shop Reborn.
There are three core secrets, mysteries that saw me read late into the night and pick up the book at every available opportunity; something from Posy’s past, something from Nick’s past, and the business dealings of weak, unscrupulous Sam.
One of the type of books that, once you’ve finished it, you wish you’d never read it so you can start all over again. I galloped through it on holiday but some of the issues stayed with me afterwards; that fractured families can re-heal if the will is there, that cutting loose from the past can be both heart-breaking and freeing, and that it is never too late to say yes.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

The Butterfly Room is a sweeping novel full of interesting (and very different) characters and the grand setting of Admiral House in Suffolk. Two different timeframes are depitced – the 1950s, following Posy as a child growing up in Admiral House with her parents, and the present day, when the crumbling house becomes a financial burden on Posy, now almost 70 years old with her own family (and secrets).

I liked the continuity of having Posy in both storylines, and the way we see some of the same characters in both but also a whole host of new people in the present day story, as we meet Posy’s children, grandchildren and friends. There’s such a mix of people here, from those I really liked, to those who are truly awful (I won’t say here so as not to spoil anything). They felt like real characters, and although none of them are portrayed as perfect – many of them make dubious decisions at times, or have their own faults – that just makes them seem more real.

This is a fairly long book – well over 600 pages – but I didn’t feel like it dragged on, despite a lot of detail being included. There are some parts which felt a little unbeliavable, but I think you expect to suspend your disbelief a little bit when reading a novel like this, because you want to get swept away in all of its romance and secrets. There are some surprises along the way and its long legnth means the author can reveal a lot over the long timescale that’s included in this book.

Though I sometimes steer away from books in this genre as I feel they can lack the grit and realism I often enjoy, I realise this was pretty silly now because The Butterfly Room doesn’t feel lacking – it’s an enjoyable, fairly gentle read but it has some more shocking parts that make you sit up and take notice, and concludes with a nicely tied up ending that leaves the reader feeling satisfied.

I really enjoyed following Posy’s story, and that of her family, and would read more by this Lucinda Riley. It’s ideal for a bit of escapism and would make a lovely holiday read!

This is the second book I’ve read of Lucinda’s and she is making me a fan!!

Excellent writing brilliant story that just flows perfectly

Highly recommended

A lovely story that keeps you involved from start to finish. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this genre and enjoy a lovely tale.

My first book by this author and I found it quite interesting as the story was told over two time periods and followed the life of Posy. At the beginning of the book it is quite simplistic as it follows Posy as a young girl and the writing reflects that. When written in 2006 when Posy is approaching her 70th birthday the writing is far more sophisticated. Everyone in this tale had secrets they were keeping - some being kept inexplicably and the biggest secret rather a surprise to have passed Posy by. Having said that the writing was good and the characters interesting and the book very readable.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Lucinda Riley/Pan Macmillan for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I've read and enjoyed other books by this author and this was the case here. The characters come to life and you care what happens to them.

The story jumps from the present to the past and the events that led the family to where they are now. Lovely read and will look for more by the author.

If all you are after is an undemanding holiday read, then this is probably for you. With a cast of two dimensional characters, all the good men are devastatingly handsome, and the women drop dead gorgeous, plus the matriarch is good to the core as well. We follow her story from her childhood through to her seventies, where she has suffered the loss of her parents and also a young love. She and everyone over a certain age and background refer to people as “darling girl”, or “darling boy”, and it all feels a. little forced, and not a little of the jolly hockey sticks style if literature which surely went out of fashion with the famous five.
The plot holds no surprises, and in the end all loose ends are reunited. With a lot more humour and perhaps some more convincing characterisation she might have got away with it. Not for me, I’m afraid.

Lucinda Riley must be one of the best authors around. Her imagination must work overtime as she always has something new to say and surprise you with. The room in question seems to fade after the first few chapters and re appears at the end after a roller coaster ride of emotions on the way, all becomes clear and surprises the reader. Well worth the read.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC, which I have enjoyed reading.
This is the story of Posy through childhood and to her 70th birthday. It is an interesting and entertaining book and the book moves from Posy’s childhood and to her 70th year and tells also the details of her two children’s stories. The storyline is very engrossing and at times very sad, an interesting storyline and excellent read.
Highly recommended.

If you love intriguing family sagas, then this book fits the bill perfectly. Not only does it have several secrets to unravel but an array of believable characters with their own quirks, faults and flaws. It opens with the main character, Posy, enjoying the company of the father she adores during the early, idyllic part of her childhood. They share an interest in imaginative tales, gardening, drawing plants and gathering butterflies.

Before long, this snapshot becomes a treasured memory as her father is cruelly taken away from her. Her French maman chooses to send Posy away to her paternal grandmother’s home in Cornwall. She is initially bereft but learns to make the best of her sad circumstances. Alongside the narrative of Posy’s formative years, friendships, university experiences and relationships, there is a counter thread running from 2006 onwards. Posy is approaching her seventieth birthday and living alone in Admiral House, her family estate in Suffolk.

Though she loves her home and garden, she realises it's all getting too much for her to manage by herself. Her two sons, Sam and Nick, are estranged from one another and only Sam, his wife Amy and their two children live close by. As secrets, hidden hostility, fear and resentment surface, several relational and emotional entanglements ensue. And not everyone will get to experience their happy ever after ending. It's a lengthy novel but there's sufficient storyline strength, warmth and pace to keep a reader interested. A great choice for some indulgent summer reading material.

Lucinda Riley does it again, delivering an at once beautiful book- inside and out- that grips you until the last page. Riley has a way of writing that makes me feel like I am right in the room with the characters. Set over many years, we follow Posy throughout her life- all the ups and downs this entails. Beautifully done, a tear jerker that pulls at the heart strings in places. I dare you to read this and not feel all the emotions!

A classic Lucinda Riley, this family saga is full of secrets, mysteries and surprises. Well written, with great characters and a complex plot, I found it difficult to put down.

My review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley is about Posy Montague, and her family. We start the book with Posy as a young girl, during the Second World War, with her father, the parent she adores, going off to war to fly planes again shortly, but in the meantime, they are loving playing together.

We switch between Posy's younger life, and her life currently, a widow, with two sons, one of whom is just coming home after 10 years in Australia. Her other son lives in the village, with his wife, and their two young children, and he is forever asking his mother for money for another venture.

We go through the ups and downs of family problems, and family joys. I've read all of the books in the Seven Sisters series (and reviewed the first one here.), and I think Lucinda Riley is very good at creating a family atmosphere, and taking you on a journey.

The Butterfly Room was published on 2nd May 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Macmillan (the publishers) for this book.

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I love all this author's books. She has an excellent style of writing and this one flows so well. I took this on holiday with me and it was perfect to lose myself in!

The perfect holiday read! I loved Posy! Loved her strong, no nonsense, get on with it personality and was intrigued by her ‘Charles Dance’ Freddie! It was a little cliched at times but it didn’t matter! There was a beginning a middle and the perfect happy ending! I sobbed at the end and would have been very disappointed if I hadn’t! Loved it!