Sound of Butterflies, The

by King, Rachael

  Thomas

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  While this is a work of imagination, some of the characters are loosely based on real people: the character of José Santos was inspired by the Peruvian rubber baron Julio Arana, who lived in Manaus and had thousands of Indians tortured and enslaved in the Putumayo region (but who did not murder his wife); an American, Walter Hardenburg, provided the starting point for the off-stage Mr Roberts. The story of the clash of these two men deserves a whole book of its own — I urge anyone interested to seek it out. While every care has been taken to get historical details right, I repeat, this is primarily a work of imagination. In regards to the art of butterflies and collecting, I have used information that was available at the time, much of which I’m sure has been superseded. To my knowledge, no such collecting expedition took place in the Amazon at that specific time; however, there were many expeditions before and after.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book wouldn’t have been possible without the following people, so my gratitude goes to:

  Vivien Green, Harriet Allan, Rachel Scott and to Elizabeth Knox for her comments.

  Jonathan King, for too many things to mention, but, as a start, telling me about the rubber barons and setting me on the path.

  The NZSA (PEN NZ Inc) Mentor Programme supported by Creative New Zealand, and Chris Else for his incredibly valuable advice.

  All my Zoetrope buddies, especially Richard Lewis, Paul Cunningham, Hannah Holborn, Thea Atkinson, Joan Wilking, Judith Beck and Anna Sidak. Special thanks to Mario Ribeiro for Brazilian advice and translation.

  Insightful readers and support crew Susan Pearce, Kate Duignan, Katy Robinson, Tim Corbalis and Mary Parker.

  Helpful staff at the Natural History Museum in London and the Richmond Public Library. Rob and Joan Marshall for introducing me to Richmond Park.

  Sam and the Matterhorn for providing a safe, welcoming, book-loving, imbibing environment.

  Friends and family for all manner of help, support and enthusiasm: Ros Henry, David Elworthy, Harriet Elworthy, Rebecca Priestley, Bill Manhire, Anna Smaill, Carl Shuker, Jason Hebron, Gemma Gracewood, Marianne Elliot, Tanya Fretz, Annette Cotter, Jon Bridges, Janelle Rodrigues, Paula Morris and especially Peter Rutherford.

  About the Author

  Rachael King has worked in radio, television and magazines, and played bass guitar in several bands. She now writes full time and lives in Wellington. She is the recipient of the 2005/2006 Lilian Ida Smith Award.

  Copyright

  National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  King, Rachael, 1970-

  The sound of butterflies / by Rachael King.

  ISBN-13: 978–1–86979–641–9

  ISBN-10: 1-86941-794-1

  I. Title

  NZ823.3—dc 22

  A BLACK SWAN BOOK

  published by

  Random House New Zealand

  18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand

  www.randomhouse.co.nz

  First published 2006 (twice)

  © 2006 Rachael King

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted

  ISBN-13: 978 1 86979 641 9

  ISBN-10: 1 86941 794 1

  Text design: Elin Bruhn Termannsen

  Cover design: Janelle Rodrigues

  Cover illustration (nude): from photograph by Anonymous

  c. 1855, copyright Uwe Scheid Collection

  Printed in Australia by Griffin Press