The Fallen Stones: Chasing Blue Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way

Pulitzer Prize winner Marcum (The Tenth Island) combines memoir, vivid nature writing, and sharp humor in this moving look at a Belizean butterfly farm. Marcum was about to end her relationship with her partner, Jack Moody, when he suggested a getaway to Belize; Marcum accepted before knowing where Belize was. Things got off to a rocky start, but improved after she learned of a butterfly farm financed by a wealthy lepidopterist. Her visit there with Moody began to heal their rift and inspired Marcum to take a year away from her reporting work to write about the farm. What follows is a look at the friendships she made and the appreciation for lepidoptery she discovered there: “butterflies are the celebratory confetti tossed in the air when the plants and air and water and the rest of the insect world are healthy. If you get it right for butterflies, you have it right for the rest of the ecosystem.” Marcum has a knack for description, as when she recounts watching a blue morpho emerge from its chrysalis: its “wings were wet and crumpled like a piece of laundry that had been left in the washing machine.” This is a deeply human story, and one filled with plenty of hope. (Mar.)