Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite by the author. There were so many secrets surrounding Butterfly Cottage. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Clara after leaving the cottage so suddenly. She loved that cottage and had only recently purchased it. My favorite part was Clara's storyline. I enjoyed how the book alternated between Clara in 1963 and Meredith in 2018. I didn't love Meredith at all. Clara doesn't allow all the challenges in her life to hold her back. She still goes on living and made changes to accommodate her obstacles. Meredith does the exact opposite. She has no idea how to turn her life around and allows the salon debt to keep accumulating. She doesn't understand why her ex-boyfriend, Joe, doesn't want to lend her his car. Meredith seems to want to blame Joe for her salon problems. No one made her buy it. She doesn't do anything to make the problem better and actually make money. She took more time off to spend at the cottage instead of actually seeing clients.

I thought there might have been more about Zach. I thought there was going to be a reason Clara picked him to inherit the house or a secret surrounding him. I think Clara chose him for the simple reason he reminded her of James. I don't know why Dennis never got in contact with Meredith before showing up at the cottage. If he truly changed his life, why not get in touch with his daughter. It's been fifteen years. Ester and Richard always wanted to control Clara. Did they ever love Dennis? It really didn't seem like they did. Hated how Richard always called Clara old girl. Esther was more like her parents than she realized. Whose idea was it to offer the money? Richard or Esther? They probably both came up with the idea. Clara and James should have been more honest with each other. Things might have turned out differently. Would they have been happy together? They both ended up having wonderful, productive lives.

Definitely recommend the book. Enjoyed the characters (most of them), story and writing style. Butterfly Cottage and it's gardens sounded like a beautiful place to live. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Loved the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed The Butterfly Garden.
I found it an easy, if somewhat predictable read. There is a mistake in Chapter 3, whereby Meredith explains the scenario in which she found Joe with Jemma in bed together, after leaving work with a migraine. It states her migraine "had forced her to find a cover teacher and go home early" , as this was Merediths chapter I believe it was a mix up and should of been "had forced her to contact her clients of that afternoon to cancel" as she is a hairdresser (Clara was the teacher).
But the mistake aside, the story was absorbing and the characters interesting. I would look out for this author again.

I love novels that have multiple timelines, and I love trying to solve the mystery of how they fit together. This mystery wasn't much of one really, but it was still a lovely read. I really enjoyed and appreciated the feminist angle. Unfortunately I wasn't a huge fan of a certain relationship during the modern story because it felt forced, and at the end I also wasn't entirely sure why Zach had also inherited the house. Despite those minor complaints, it was still enjoyable.

This was such a lovely story from Rachel Burton, dual timeline but easy to follow. The story of Clara and James and then Meredith and the house she inherits and the gardener who is there when she comes to look at the house. A story of lost love and new beginnings and family confessions.
My thanks as always to NetGalley and to Boldwood Books for the early read

This is a beautifully written dual timeline story about love, family and secrets. Meredith is left Butterfly Cottage by a great aunt, Clara, who she never knew existed. This inheritance comes at exactly the right time for Meredith as her salon business is leaving her in debt and she has recently split up from her partner. However when she arrives at the cottage with thoughts of selling she finds out that Clara has also left half of it to the gardener. Together they try and find out who Clara really was and why Meredith knows nothing about her. Clara’s story is intriguing and I loved how it entwined with Meredith’s. There were some loose ends but I quite liked that as it gives the opportunity for you as the reader to make up your mind as to how things turned out for the main characters. I found this a very emotive read that has some wonderful characters and also explored the dynamics of various relationships. Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC

This is a time slip novel set in 1963 and 2018 in England.

Clara, in a963, feels stuck in a rut in her life as a teacher in London, single and without many friends. When her sister tells her that Butterfly Cottage is for sale, Clara jumps at the chance and buys it, for the happy memories she had there as a child before WWI.

In 2018, Meredith is surprised to learn that she has inherited a cottage. Her life and her business are in shambles and she makes the trip to see the cottage.

I really enjoyed reading about these two women and the connections between them. It's not a straight romance but there are romantic elements and the time slip is well done.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

This is a tale of love and loss and the intricacies and difficulties of familial relationships weave their way through its very core. Nobody in this book has an uncomplicated relationship with their parents and perhaps this reflects a society which places unrealistic expectations on people. Although the book is largely set in the 1960s, many of the attitudes expressed are still prevalent today to a greater or lesser extent. Plus, as most people know, the impace of a difficult childhood can be a lasting one and can have repercussions as those children become parents themselves.

The end of the story is revealed relatively eagerly on in the book, but the ending was something of a surprise in terms of Clara's philosophy as she reflects on her life and the choices she made. In many ways, whilst the story is sad on one level, on another, I liked the fact that the main characters were given agency at a time when they would have had relatively little, given their gender/social class.

If you are interested in thoughtful novels which explore the place of family within life and society, then this is the book for you.

Just as Meredith's life is falling apart, she inherits Butterfly Cottage from her great-aunt Clara. But she's never heard anyone in the family talk about her - and when she goes to see the cottage she discovers that not all is quite as it seems...

Lovely dual-time story with Clara's life in 1963 (a teacher who moves back to her childhood village and buys Butterfly Cottage - the financial constraints on women of the day are nicely shown) and Meredith in 2018 putting the pieces of Clara's life together after she finds a tin of letters.

Warm, delightful characters (and a few sour ones!), a nice mystery to solve, and a rich historical background.

Solid four stars.

I’ve really been enjoying Rachel’s historical mysteries based in beautiful home. Whilst The Butterfly Cottage and its beautiful gardens may not be as stately and grand as some of the other homes featured, its story is still very compelling and its inhabitants very engaging. I loved hearing about the gardens and the small town of Carybrook made for the perfect backdrop to the story.

The story takes place over a dual timeline going back and forth between 1963 and 2018. Both storylines were engaging and held my attention and the mystery unraveled nicely through them both. I really felt like I was in the 1960s - I enjoyed hearing about the dances, a new band called the Beatles and hearing about Mary Quants designs.

The two main protagonists Clara and Meredith were both well fleshed out, had their family issues and had a gardener for a love interest. I particularly enjoyed Clara and how ahead of the times she was. The mystery element was fun in that we knew the beginning and the end, I enjoyed trying to guess how it all played out. Some bits I was right about others took me by surprise. I enjoyed that there was list of further reading and a playlist to set the mood at the end. I can’t wait to see what home with visit with Rachel next.

Another epic dual timeline love story from Rachel Burton that explores a modern story combined with the historical post-war movement for women's rights with the Beatles pop culture era in the UK.
I loved the dynamic between Meredith and her mum, and Clara and James' romance. There's a lot of heartbreak and confusion that both timelines deal with that ultimately link up in unexpected ways.
The inexplicable pull of Butterfly Cottage & Carybrook for all the characters is so wonderfully written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my copy of The Butterfly Garden by Rachel Burton.
An enchanting time slip tale of love found and lost, thoughts of what might have been, and what maybe to come.

First and foremost, the story is wonderful and definitely swoon worthy. I love when a mysterious family member leaves something in a will. The way the story moves is great, however I myself found not feeling g the feelings that I know that I should be. I am definitely a mood reader, so maybe the time I chose to read this was not right for me. I’m going to try this again in about a month to see where my feelings go.

This is a duel timeline book where we hear about Carla in 1963 and Meridith in 2018.
Meridian has been left a cottage by a great aunt she has never heard of. This bequest has came at the right time as Meridith's hairdressing salon in London is losing money and her cheating boyfriend wants his investment back as his new girlfriend is pregnant.
When she visits the property she is surprised to see that everything is not as it seems and selling the cottage to pay her debts will not be straightforward.

In 1963 Clara has returned to her home village after years teaching in London, She has returned to buy the cottage where she had good memories of her childhood friend, James. She expects to get another teaching job and live there for the rest of her life but 10mths later she leaves forever, why?

I loved this book. I enjoyed the amateur detective work Meridith had to do to find out more about Clara.
Parts of Clara's story was heartbreaking and upsetting for Meridith to find out what went on.
I read this book in a few sittings it's a lovely story with a good ending. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Not my usual read, but I can still say it was rich and deeply submerged in history, along a dual timeline chock full of secrets and family relationships. Beautifully written.

Upon a surprise inhertiance from a family she didn't even know she had, this is a gorgeous dual line story story from Rachel who just has the ability to pull you into not just one, but two worlds, that are tied together through history, secrets and a journey to Australia for one of them. This is a well written book from the Boldwood author and author you know will give you awesome books and make you fully emerse in the storytelling.

In 1963 Clara Samuels buys Butterfly Cottage in the village of Carybrook in Suffolk. She knows the cottage from when she used to play there as a child with her friend James before the war. His father was the Vicar of Carybrook and Clara and James enjoyed the beauty of the garden and the butterflys that would be in abundance there. When James reappears in her life, it appears that her decision to purchase the cottage is serendipitous. Within months, James will disappear and Clara will leave England under mysterious circumstances.

2018: Meredith is surprised to find that she has inherited Butterfly Cottage from a great aunt she never knew about. Meredith's hairdressing business in London is not as successful as she would wish, she is in debt and her boyfriend has left her and she knows there are decisions to be made regarding her future. Inheriting the cottage seems to be the answer to her problems until she arrives to see the cottage and there a surprise is waiting for her. Old letters found in the cottage unearth the decades old mystery regarding Clara and the garden, letters left unread for 50 years.

I very much enjoyed this story and the mystery behind it. The characters are interesting...thankfully there are some very loveable people in this story but a lot of the characters are not at all likeable.

Thank you to Rachel Burton for this story and thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read it prior to publication.

This book is a wonderful story and well written novel about a young woman who inherits a house from a great-aunt that she knew nothing about. She wants to discover more about her family member Clara and uncovers family secrets, also full of new and rekindled relationships and has beautiful descriptions of the gardens. There are two timelines 1963 following Clara and 2018 following Meredith. I was able to predict the outcome of the 1963 timeline and how it connected to 2018 characters around the 60% mark — so, I began to lose interest and investment in that time line around that time — but I maintained investment in the 2018 timeline as I wanted to find out what would happen to everyone. I am looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Rachel Burton’s tenth book, a dual-timeline historical fiction set between 1963 and 2018, shows us how secrets from the past have the potential to change our future.

When Clara Samuels arrives in Carybrook, Suffolk in 1963 and purchases Butterfly Cottage, she gives the villagers something to gossip about; after all, women didn’t make such purchases! Clara’s memories and the desire to capture her youth overpower any societal norms and she’s rewarded with a serendipitous meeting with someone from her past. Without giving anything away, I’ll tell you that the house sits empty for 50 years. You’ll have to read to find out why!

When Meredith Carling discovers she’s been left her great aunt’s home in Suffolk, she’s elated. She’s never heard of the woman and never seen Butterfly Cottage, but she believes it to be the answer to her money challenges. The thing is, when she arrives…there’s a gruffy looking man already living there. What’s more - he claims he was gifted half of the cottage!

I enjoyed discovering how these two women moved on from their challenges and welcomed a journey towards growth. The focus on new beginnings and the characters Burton developed to carry her message kept me involved in the story. You’ll have to read to see how these two men at Butterfly Cottage influenced the lives of both Clara and her great-niece Meredith.

I was gifted this copy by Boldwood Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I am a big fan of this author having read some of her books and thoroughly enjoyed. This new novel set in two different time periods did not disappoint. A young woman inherits a house from a great aunt that she knew nothing about. Family secrets, new relationships and beautiful descriptions of the gardens all make this a good read. Unfortunately, I guessed at the ending( and I was right). I look forward to reading more from this author.

#blogtour reviewer

Enjoyed this dual timeline book especially how the social history has changed - imagine having to give your job up if you got married. A book full of secrets, family relationships and a beautiful garden.