Ginny has dedicated her life to the study of moths. In Bulbarrow Court, the rural mansion where she has lived all her life, the attic rooms and outhouses are entirely given over to larvae boxes, display cabinets and tanks.
Ginny’s younger sister Vivi is returning to live at the family home, which she hasn’t visited in 47 years. Her reappearance in Ginny’s life kindles long-buried memories of their childhood – Ginny remembers being devoted to her sister during a happy childhood overseen by her moth-obsessed father, Clive, and the glamorous Maud, who died tragically young.
Poppy Adams weaves descriptions of moths and their characteristics through her debut novel, casting light on the relationship between Ginny and Vivi and the mythology of their family. Ginny’s reveries about moths and her fascination with their seeming total lack of consciousness highlights doubts about her own perception, calling into question her most basic assertions about herself. With the help of this device, Adams manages to tackle the hackneyed question of the authority of the narrator from a delightfully refreshing perspective. As the novel proceeds our unease grows as Ginny’s presentation of herself as an eccentric old lady, unusual only in her achievements in the field of lepidoptery, is slowly undermined. It’s a subtle, fascinating and gently powerful performance.
