The Butterfly Room is beautifully recounted novel set during the aftermath of WWII and in the present day. It's about growing older , family secrets , relationships, moving forward and how the past touches the present. This book contains a mystery which keeps the reader turning pages until the very end. At its heart is Admiral House near Southwold, Suffolk and its owner, sixty-nine year old Poppy. The narrative follows Poppy as she grows up in the shadow of the war and how she becomes a Botonist and marries , has two boys and then is widowed. Poppy has been curious about her father who was a butterfly collector but what is the truth about his death? Then there is her mother whom she rarely sees as she is raised by her grandmother far from Suffolk, in Devon. When past and present intersect one sees how everything is perfectly linked . The story's characters , especially Poppy, her children and their significant others are excellent portrayals and believable. A sense of place is beautifully established whether London, Suffolk or Devon. Admiral House is a character too of course. It's part of Poppy's persona and it's Butterfly Room is where the novel's best and most poignant secret is held. This novel is a haunting , enigmatic read.

Lucinda Riley has become one of my favourite authors in recent years, because of her fabulous Seven Sisters series, and this book was just as descriptive and enthralling as I've come to expect from her.

Posy is a widow, about to turn 70, has two sons, and lives in the lovely Admiral House in the Sussex countryside. She was widowed when the boys were very young and has been single since, putting a lot of her energy into her beautiful garden, having studied as a botanist when younger.

Her sons are completely different. Sam, the elder one, is always chasing that money pot at the end of the rainbow and has had multiple business disasters, dragging his poor wife (Amy) and two children along with him. Nick, the younger son, moved to Australia when younger and has a very successful antiques business. Nick returns to the UK as he is feeling restless and is looking to hopefully open a new business and put down roots again in England.

We also have an old beau of Posy's from her youth (Freddie), a handsome writer (Sebastian), who ends up renting a room from Posy for a while, while he writes his second book - his first having been a runaway hit, Tammy an ex-model who is just opening a vintage dress shop, and Evie, Nick's unrequited love interest from years ago, who has also just returned to Southwold with her daughter.

Over the course of the story old secrets are revealed and eventually resolved, with relationships changing and developing. I had half an idea about how some of the story would go (hoped anyway!) but there was definitely one secret I didn't see coming, I had that one completely wrong!

Yet another page-turning, riveting book from the very talented Lucinda Riley. I just love her writing style, it draws you in and makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens in the end. Wonderful book!

When I am in the mood for an absorbing, easy to read page-turner, I know I can always turn to Lucinda Riley and The Butterfly Room is no exception. The dual-timeline story of loveable matriarch Posy Montague and her extended family had me hooked from the start and kept me guessing all the way through. With more family drama than Eastenders, a dash of mystery and plenty of romance, this would make the ideal beach read for the summer.

This was the first book I’ve read from Lucinda Riley having heard lots of good good reviews of the seven sisters books. I wasn’t disappointed and absolutely loved this book. I’d been so disappointed with my previous book that this was a welcome delight. It had everything I was looking for, love, drama, beautiful surroundings. I found myself googling Southwold and wanting to visit! I loved hearing about Posy and her family and really got immersed in the story & characters. I’m now looking for my next read by Lucinda Riley! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

A undemanding but enjoyable sweeping family sage spanning sixty years in the life of Adriana ‘Posy’ Anderson. The dual narrative timeline flicks between Posy’s childhood during the Second World War and 2006, where we meet Posy again as a septegenarian. Family secrets abound, relationships form and fracture and at the centre of everything is Posy’s beloved family home, Admiral House, which contains the eponymous Butterfly Room. Posy, in the present day, is living alone, when she meets former flame, Freddie, who seems simultaneously ardent yet reluctant to rekindle their relationship. It is by delving into their past that we are able to make sense of the present. As can often be the case with two timelines, I found the 1940’s segments more captivating and found myself racing through the modern-day sections to get back to them. I would definitely recommend this as a summer read.

Told over 2 timelines, The 1940’s and 2006 both set in Southwold Suffolk.

In 1940 we meet Posy, growing up in Admiral House with her parents. She has a close bond with her father until he is sent to war.

In 2006 Posy is nearly 70 and is still at Admiral House. Is it time for her to sell this beautiful family home. Her 2 children Sam and Nick are like chalk and cheese. Sam is always looking for his next business deal which inevitably fails. Whilst his wife and child struggle to make ends meet.

Nick is successful as an antiques dealer and is returning from Australia to open up a new store.

We discover how Posy’s childhood affected her adult life. There are plenty of secrets and twists along the way.

This is such a beautifully written descriptive book. I have fallen in love with Admiral House.

A very easy book to read that is captivating and casts a magical spell over you!! I went to bed dreaming about Admiral House.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for a review.

This is an interesting and intriguing family saga. Very well written. You get attached to the family characters and of course there has to be a black sheep in the family.

Loved this book! I'm a huge fan of Lucinda Riley and she never disappoints. Fantastic storytelling as ever and Posy is a fascinating character. Can't wait for Lucinda's next book!

Posy grew up on the Suffolk coast but after her father was killed in the war she moved to Cornwall to live with her grandmother. Many years later she moves back to the family house in Suffolk bringing up her two boys alone after her husband dies.
Now approaching her 70th birthday she has decisions to make. Should she sell the house and lose the beautiful garden she has created and all the memories she has? Then a face from the past appears and her son returns from Australia. Life begins to move swiftly in various directions - not all good - and the house has one more secret to give up.

Every time I think I have a favourite book of Lucinda Riley she writes another. I absolutely loved this book. The story is based on the main character Posy, from her childhood to being a grandmother. There’s a family secret I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out the whole truth of the story. Posy is such a strong likeable character, thee are some lovely and not so lovely characters in the book,there are also some very sad moments,and some deep issues like domestic abuse that are covered responsibly by Lucinda Riley in the story. Although I wanted to get to the end to find out the family secret that is hinted at throughout the storyline,another part of me didn’t want the story to end. Thank you to Lucinda Riley for your wonderful gift of story telling,and thank you to your lovely publishers and netgalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is not my typical genre of book but I liked the look of the cover and the synopsis and so applied for it for a change of pace and scenary. Although still not my bag, I can see this book being attractive to readers of contemporary 'real-life' style fiction. The story has many layers and takes places over several decades in the beautiful Suffolk countryside. I liked the air of mystery and the way family secrets were revealed to the audience and enjoyed the character development. It's not a huge book (I believe the printed copy is 640 pages long) but is substantial enough for the material covered.

I always enjoy Lucinda's books and this novel fits within her usual style. To be honest I liked it more as I read on so if you think it's a bit slow then keep going for a while longer. I know Southwold and the area well so I enjoyed imagining the family in situ and this increased the pleasure of the read. The characters are up to date and believable although like most books for the sake of interest, they are 'more than realistic'. Butterfly Room is not my favourite of Lucinda Riley's novels but worth the read.

Thank you Lucinda for yet another beautiful story.

I've never been disappointed with any of Lucinda's books and absolutely adored this one, simply unputdownable.
It tells the story of 70 year old Posy Montague who is still living in her beautiful family home, where she spent an idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father. She raised her own children there however now with money running out and the house needing a lot spending on it she faces the horrible decision of having to sell up. Her main heartbreak is having to let go of the gorgeous garden she has spent twenty-five years creating.

This is where the other characters in the book start to make an impact - her boys are grown up however are very different, Sam is a totally useless businessman and Nick, grounded and sensible, has been in Australia for 10 years. Add to this the reappearance of Freddie her first love and the story deepens and the plot starts to unfold.

So many things are not as they seem for Posy as well as the reader. I loved this story so much, it ended just as I wanted it to and I'd love to have a follow up book to find out how the characters moved on with all the changes in their lives...a sequel would be fab!!!

I have not read Lucinda Riley before, but this had me hooked. It was beautifully written even though a bit 'twee' in parts. The story covering 3 generations - I love books which cover more than one time - has lots of lovely characters and is full of secrets. I loved the way it all came together in the end and I wouldn't have guessed the 'secret'. All in all an enjoyable read and my thanks to NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A multi layered family saga that spans the decades, well written with great characterisation and a story that just draws you in. I felt as if I was living the highs and lows with all of the characters and didn't want to put it down. I love a book that I can loose myself in and this fit the bill perfectly.

Paradise. That's what it seemed like to nine-year-old Posy Anderson. Her father delighted in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot on the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to a close, but men still had to go and fight - and risk their lives. Posy was staying with her grandmother in Cornwall when the news came through that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what was going to happen to her.

Posy was to stay with her grandmother in Cornwall. She would attend the local school along with the other children from the village and this she did until it became obvious that Posy was more advanced and needed more specialist teaching. Boarding school answered Posy's needs until she went to university to study Botany.

Fast forward into the early part of the twenty-first century when we meet Posy again. She's Posy Montague now and she lives alone in Admiral House, her childhood home. It wasn't always this way. Posy's been a widow for thirty years and her late husband never met his younger son, Nick, who was born after Jonny was killed in a tragic accident. Nick's older brother, Sam, still lives in Southwold, if you can call the hand-to-mouth existence he and his wife endure as living. Nick, on the other hand, has spent the last ten years in Australia, where he's been a successful antiques dealer. The brothers have never got on, but Nick's now thinking about returning to London.

Posy might be nearly seventy, but she still has vitality and she's shocked when she encounters the man who was the passion of her life - Freddie Lennox. The Butterfly Room is the story of how Posy and those around her, got from playing in the garden in the nineteen forties to the garden which Posy has spent more than a quarter of a century building at Admiral House.

It was going to last me at least a week. I'd made up my mind: I had work to do. Over the first few chapters it seemed as though it would work out, because I had it all worked out in my own mind. I knew exactly what had happened and what would happen: it was all so obvious. Only, it wasn't and doubts began to creep in. Of course I had to keep reading just until the plot got back to where I expected it to be - only it didn't, so the book that was going to last me at least a week, was finished in two days. All the clues were there, but I didn't spot them. Next time I read it will be to see how it was done.

So, the plot's a cracker, with a very satisfying ending. The characters are good too. I took a little while to keep track of who was who as there's quite a cast list, but it wasn't long before they all developed their own voices. Even relatively minor characters came off the page well. A couple of days after I've finished reading the book some of the characters are wandering about my mind. I want to know what happens to them next.

The locations, Southwold and Cornwall, are an author's dream and Lucinda Riley does them justice. We see behind the tourist facade and get a feel for the real places and the struggle that the local people have to live there. I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag: it was a good read and I'm looking forward to Riley's next book.

A great family saga with a well woven plot. Some of the story lines you can guess but others keep you guessing. A good summer read.

I love the way Lucinda Riley's books span across history to tell her stories. I chose this book as I am a big fan of the Seven Sisters books and this one is also a very enjoyable read. There are similar themes and messages throughout her stories but each one is engaging in its own way. I would be happy to read anything else she writes!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you Netgalley, Publisher and of course the author. I loved this book and although it was very long I was so engrossed in the storyline that it flew past. 5 stars

A really enjoyable story with some tears and laughter going on. The story has different dimensions which keep you hooked in and you will find it quite hard to put down!