‘I looked down at the map of America. It was a land big enough for Joe. A land big enough to accommodate all our delusions.’

It is a well-used trope in literature: an outsider, someone a bit lost in their life, is accepted into a family or social group – usually made up of eccentric or larger-than-life characters – and experiences adventures or events which change their life. In ‘Butterfly Joe’, which is set in the summer of 1987, we meet Llewellyn Jones, a Welshman staying at his aunt’s house in the Catskill Mountains, who encounters the brother and sister pairing of Joe and Mary-Anne Bosco. Thus starts Llew’s extraordinary journey as he is taken on as Sales Manager for the Bosco’s ‘business’ of selling dead butterflies in display cases, and he is re-named Rip Van Jones by the exuberant and chaotic Joe. The whole Bosco clan are generally oddballs - from the domineering matriarch Edith to the other sister Isabelle, and the various waifs and strays that have been taken in over the years – and their house is a ramshackle mansion that used to belong to an arms manufacturer.

Part road trip, part satire on the American dream, part crime novel – it’s hard to classify the book, and in the background are several references to Greek epics and in particular Homer’s ‘Odyssey’. Truth and reality are often elusive, as the book makes much of different versions of truth and family history. The figure of the Bosco’s father (who we finally meet near the very end of the book) is the subject of much of these variations of truth, and the book makes much of its themes of family and inheritance. Indeed, the book itself – as we come to learn – is Llew’s own way of trying to pin down exactly what did, or didn’t, happen, interspersed as it is by the framing device of him being in prison for reasons yet to be explained.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book; the cast of characters are well-drawn and carry the story along in a roller-coaster ride. By the end Llew does indeed seem to be a changed man, more willing to step forward and take chances in life now that his time with the Bosco family is over. This is well worth a read for sure, its sheer vitality will sweep you along.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.) ( )

Every now and then I am lucky enough to experience the serendipity of buying a book on impulse, without knowing anything at all about it or its author, and finding that I have hit upon a gem. I certainly seem to experience the reverse scenario all too often, taking a punt upon a book only to find that it is dreadful, so I guess I was due a stroke of good luck.

Rhidian Brook’s delightful novel defies easy classification. Set in the late 1980s it is narrated by Llewellyn Jones, a young Welshman who has recently graduated from university where he had studied Classics. His father, with whom he had had a frequently uncomfortable relationship has recently died, and Llewellyn, who has thus far demonstrated an tendency to drift aimlessly through life, has taken the opportunity to take some time out on a trip to America as a means of deferring any challenging decisions about what career he should settle upon.

Having fallen asleep by a pond in the Catskil Mountains,after having enjoyed a relaxing joint, Llewellyn has slightly disturbing encounter with itinerant butterfly collector (colloquially referred to as a ‘leppar’) Joe Bosco and his feral sister Mary-Anne. The meeting had been so odd that Llewellyn is unsure whether it really happened, or whether the marijuana had been stronger than he had supposed. The following day, however, Joe Bosco returns and offers him a life-changing proposition. Reacting on the spur of the moment, Llewellyn agrees, and finds himself part of the Bosco family business, which revolves around the sale of beautiful butterflies enclosed in special cases, which they see as a potential goldmine.

Joe Bosco is a marvellous character: largely than life and bursting with enthusiasm and his own powerful but chaotically constructed moral code. He speaks with great fervour about everything, words flowing from him in an unstoppable spate, and Llewellyn (now renamed by Joe as ‘Rip van Jones’, in reference to Rip van Winkle recollecting his sleeping state when they first met) is completely given over to following him. The rest of the Bosco family are less immediately engaging, although closer acquaintance renders them all rewarding. ‘Rip’ and Joe then find themselves driving all over the country, eagerly searching for new customers for their beautiful butterflies.

Having quickly cast my eye over my synopsis above, I realise how poorly I have conveyed the sheer joy of reading this book. Joe Bosco is a glorious character, strewing malapropisms with every utterance, and sharing his (fundamentally benign) philosophy of life at every turn. Llewellyn/Rip is immediately captivated, and so is the reader.

Part comedy, part road trip novel, and part sociological observation on small town America in the 1980s, this is, above all, simply a joyous and engrossing story. Characters who at first seem larger than life crystallise into comprehensively plausible figures. An outstanding success. ( )