The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary

As someone born and raised in Melbourne, this reader was immediately drawn to this novel’s promise of a story set in 1863, in the heart of the small township and involving a marginalised population and society not usually the main subject of a large book. The generously hand drawn map of Melbourne in the front of the novel piqued one’s interest.

Told in the present tense (usually a red flag for this reader) but in reality, it’s a perfect method by which to plunge the reader into the immediacy of the era, culture, customs and stifling Victorian prudish manners in the colony of Melbourne.

It begins with a murder must foul, follows with the story of Johanna, a young woman without many prospects who had fled Ireland to find personal freedom in Melbourne. Strong characters, both male and female, are introduced as they help Johanna find work as a servant in one of Melbourne’s most infamous brothels. As she finds her feet and aspires to be a more than just a servant, she makes friends with those around her, including a cautious friendship with a Young Lady whose older brother is intent on securing his only sister into a Fine Marriage.

More gruesome murders follow, very “Jack the Ripper” in the back laneways of seedy Melbourne. The police, the brothel personnel, the upper classes of regimented Melbourne all cannot identify let alone catch the murderer. Against this main plot simmers two illicit romances.

The description of Melbourne’s streets and geography are vivid, the interiors of residences finely drawn, characters step off the page. This novel is the author’s debut in fiction, and not just fiction but historical crime at that.

Reviewed by Belinda Coombs
Murder and Crime Reading Group