Rufous and Calliope - by Sarah Louise Butler (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this stunning tale of love and loss, a middle-aged cartographer, suffering from memory loss and claustrophobia, hikes through the interior of British Columbia in search of a treehouse where he spent one memorable summer on the run with his four siblings.

In Rufous and Calliope, Sarah Louise Butler takes readers deep into the rugged British Columbia Interior, where the mysteries of nature collide with the fragile threads of memory. Rufous Flanagan, a modern-day cartographer, embarks on a solo trek through an ancient mountain pass in search of the treehouse hideaway where he spent one memorable childhood summer on the run with his three older half-siblings and his twin sister, Calliope. With every step, the vast, untamed wilderness presents both a physical and emotional challenge, as Rufous must confront not only treacherous terrain, but the unravelling of his own mind. His memories--sometimes vivid, sometimes slipping away--become a map guiding him through towering forests, dry creek beds and smoke-filled skies. Yet, in this wilderness, not everything is as it seems. Echoes of the past lead Rufous on a journey that blurs the line between dream and reality. As the elements close in, this novel offers an unforgettable tale of survival, memory and the bond between siblings.

Review Quotes

"An elegiac love letter to our fragile natural world and to the family bonds that shape us, Sarah Louise Butler's Rufous and Calliope takes us on a riveting odyssey to recover time past and one's fractured sense of self. A deeply resonant meditation on personal and ecological losses, Butler's novel also reaffirms our human impulse to connect and delight in this often-devastating world. Rufous and Calliope left me spellbound."