First published 2012
Dellarobia Turnbow walks up a mountain road behind her house to meet a younger man. She gave up her plans when she became pregnant at seventeen. Now she lives on a failing farm with her husband, trapped in domestic disappointment. Instead of finding her secret lover, she discovers a forested valley filled with what looks like fire. The sight appears miraculous to her, but scientists identify it as monarch butterflies displaced by climate change. The discovery brings journalists, religious leaders, and a charismatic biologist to her small Appalachian town. The community judges Dellarobia and her miracle while she confronts the gap between her narrow world and larger scientific truths. She must choose between the beliefs that have defined her life and new understanding that could destroy everything she has accepted.
Genres: american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Appalachia, Appalachian Mountains
Period: Contemporary
436 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins