Grace McGuiver arrives in the Azores Islands of Portugal to do her dissertation research on the annual festival cycle. To get there, she travels on an ancient cargo boat auspiciously named the Holy Ghost. Little does she know her arrival will set into motion a series of deadly events that will threaten her ability to do what she came to do.
She is ill prepared professionally for what awaits and poorly equipped emotionally to deal with life as a single woman in a strongly patriarchal culture. She soon discovers unknown foes and accusers who wish her ill, one of them said to be a witch. In the meantime, her love life back home is falling apart while two local men vie for her affections, giving islanders reason to gossip about her loose American ways. Her search for a resolution to her problems and redemption for unintended sins takes her down a path that leads to friendship, romance, mystery, and magic.
"Butterfly Dreams occurs on an Atlantic isle where three oceanic plates collide, providing an energetic setting for Anne McClard's astonishing novel of transformation, hope, dreams, and magic. Grace McGuiver is a young American woman living on São Jorge, an island in the Azores approximately eight-hundred miles west of Portugal. Struggling to complete her ethnographic field work, Grace incorporates São Jorge's chaotic geology of earthquakes and volcanoes into body, mind, and spirit as she copes with local culture, confronts the bedevilments of ancient superstitions, and grapples with her complicated love life."
"Anne McClard weaves a mesmerizing tale of love, sacrifice, and cultural exploration in Butterfly Dreams. Set amidst the enchanting backdrop of the Azores Islands, where tradition and mystery collide, an anthropologist studying festivals finds herself entangled in a web of accusations and superstitions. Prepare to be captivated by a story that blends ancient folklore, personal resilience, and the fight for truth."