Solitary, nostalgic Liz Crane returns to her family's now-deserted farmhouse to study the migratory habits of the Monarch butterfly. A rich family history - all the anecdotes and blarney of successful Irish immigrants - is now tainted with sadness. Her cousin Amanda, a gifted military strategist, has been killed in Afghanistan, a loss foreshadowed by the earlier disappearance of her charismatic father. Reflecting on the fragility and transcience of human life and relations - mirrored in the Monarchs' restless flight - Liz finds that love is there to be found where you least expect it.

Prizes

Long-listed for Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010

'Urquhart handles the layers of narrative with lyrical aplomb' Susan Elderkin, Financial Times. * Financial Times *
'A delicate work of rare beauty' Lucy Popescu, Independent. * Independent *
'Urquhart's style is reminiscent of that of the Pulitzer-winner Marilynne Robinson' Mary Morrissey, Irish Times. * Irish Times *
'Emotional and atmospheric' The Lady. * Lady *
'Urquhart's writing is poetic, in the sense that it is beautifully compact and restrained when describing the most powerful emotions' The Times. * The Times *
'Urquhart's prose is lovingly and skilfully constructed ... Her sparse plot dances and weaves like a butterfly' Sunday Business Post. * Sunday Business Post *

Jane Urquhart is the author of six novels including Away (1993), The Stone Carvers (2001) and A Map of Glass (2005), as well as a collection of short fiction and four volumes of poetry. She has written a biography of L.M. Montgomery and is the editor of the Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories. She lives in Ontario and spends part of the year in Ireland.