Plum is an ordinary Australian girl who is approaching her fourteenth birthday. Physically, academically and socially Plum is entirely unexceptional. Like many teenagers she finds her parents (and their antique-collecting) embarrassing. Like many adolescent girls she finds her body repulsive. In her circle of friends Plum merely survives. She tiptoes through their conversations, struggling to appear worthy of their company. Thankfully Plum has two older brothers—Cydar and Justin—who she adores. Her relationship with Justin is especially important to her— they share a love of films and an easy camaraderie. Cydar lives in a separate dwelling in his parents' back yard. Here he keeps rare fish, which he sells:

Cydar stands before the fish tanks, the light from the fluorescent lamps falling dustily around him. He knows that his face will be ghostingly lit, as he has seen so many faces lit; that green weeds will be wavering in the centres of his eyes. He's never had a guest to the bungalow who wasn't riveted to this spot, the furied, the addled, the untrustworthy, the depressed, all of them lulled by the cruising of the fish. The aquariums cast over Cydar himself a cloak of etherealness: he knows that people think of tranquillity when they think of him, mistaking the placidity of the fish for a franciscan simplicity in him.

When Plum is befriended by her neighbour Maureen she finds a new source of support for her everyday worries. Maureen is married, with a child, and appears terribly sophisticated. She takes a keen interest in Plum's life and offers her worldly advice, not all of it realistic. Plum begins to see herself as special, perhaps even valuable. Sadly, it will transpire that Maureen has an ulterior motive for her kindness. And it turns out that Plum has a secret of her own; although it is not spectacular, its uncovering does have harsh consequences.

Butterfly is a roller coaster of emotion. Being at a sensitive age, Plum reacts to events with an intensity of anger, sadness and despair. But this is more a depiction of what it is to be a teenager and not the unfolding of a highly dramatic plot:

She feels blood pooling in her cheeks, water leaking from the corners of her eyes. And the water is coming down on her now, crashing green water which carries in its depths all the agonies of fourteen and which sweeps her up easily, throws her head-over heels. This loss is too ugly to bear.

This was my first Sonya Hartnett novel, and I was very impressed. While not a difficult read, the prose is lovely and there is much to savour. Hartnett makes many astute comments about human nature in general, and adolescence in particular. Butterfly could be enjoyed by a young adult audience, but mature readers will gain much more, being experienced enough to recognise the profundity and beauty of this excellent novel.

(Butterfly was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Prize, 2010)