Using dream imagery, Findley brings us into the strange world of Ruth Domorosch, where nothing is quite what it seems. A menace lurks, an overwhelming feeling that death is at hand and sweeps over innocent lives while others watch: be it monarch butterflies as they migrate or the victims of the Holocaust.
It's a grim and uncomfortable tale, hidden underneath the glitter of Hollywood. A difficult and emotional read. ( )

I read this novel because I have challenged myself to read the complete works of Timothy Findley during 2010. I'm glad that I decided to spread them out over the year because having now read his first two novels and having read other of his works over the years, I want to have time to savor them and know there are some left to read.
From the cover - "First published in 1969, [The Butterfly Plague] is Timothy Findley's second novel, revised and with an introduction by the author. It is Hollywood 1938. A great star is planning a stunning comeback, while another is bent on self-destruction. And, as dark clouds hang ominously over Europe, hordes of Monarch butterflies swarm beautifully but menacingly over Hollywood."

As mentioned, this is his second novel; the first was [The Last of the Crazy People]. Both novels explore mother/son relationships, father/son relationships, and dysfunctional families. This novel is divided into "chronicles" rather than chapters. According to Merriam Webster, a chronicle is a narrative; "usually continuous historical account of events arranged in order of time without analysis or interpretation."
Each chronicle does live up to that definition, but their placement in the storyline of the novel creates a interconnected layering of the history of the characters. Findley moves the reader through a world of hilarious humor, dark comedy, and stark tragedy. It is definitely a novel I will read again. ( )