The Butterfly Lampshade
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Julia Whelan
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By:
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Aimee Bender
About this listen
The first novel in 10 years from the author of the beloved New York Times best seller The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a luminous, poignant tale of a mother, a daughter, mental illness, and the fluctuating barrier between the mind and the world.
On the night her single mother is taken to a mental hospital after a psychotic episode, eight-year-old Francie is staying with her babysitter, waiting to take the train to Los Angeles to go live with her aunt and uncle. There is a lovely lamp next to the couch on which she's sleeping, the shade adorned with butterflies. When she wakes, Francie spies a dead butterfly, exactly matching the ones on the lamp, floating in a glass of water. She drinks it before the babysitter can see.
Twenty years later, Francie is compelled to make sense of that moment, and two other incidents - her discovery of a desiccated beetle from a school paper, and a bouquet of dried roses from some curtains. Her recall is exact - she is sure these things happened. But despite her certainty, she wrestles with the hold these memories maintain over her, and what they say about her own place in the world.
As Francie conjures her past, and reduces her engagement with the world to a bare minimum, she begins to question her relationship to reality. The scenes set in Francie's past glow with the intensity of childhood perception, how physical objects can take on an otherworldly power. The question for Francie is: What do these events signify? And does this power survive childhood?
Told in the lush, lilting prose that led the San Francisco Chronicle to say Aimee Bender is "a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language," The Butterfly Lampshade is a heartfelt and heartbreaking examination of the sometimes overwhelming power of the material world, and a broken love between mother and child.
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- By Michael on 08-01-22
By: Miriam Feldman
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Sisterchicks on the Loose!
- By: Robin Jones Gunn
- Narrated by: Robin Jones Gunn
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Sharon has lived calmly in Chinook Springs, Washington, her entire life. All that changes when her best friend of twenty years, Penny, takes an impulsive trip to seek out her only living relatives in Finland, and brings Sharon with her.
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Fun plot and fun characters
- By Bobbie on 06-03-11
By: Robin Jones Gunn
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No One Knows Us Here
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Kelley
- Narrated by: Merritt Hicks
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Rosemary Rabourne is already struggling to pay the bills when her recently orphaned half sister, Wendy, shows up at her door. Rosemary will try anything to provide for the traumatized teenager—including offering her services as a high-end escort. Leo Glass is the billionaire CEO of a revolutionary social app. He wants the “girlfriend experience”—someone contractually obligated to love him—and he thinks he’s found the perfect match in Rosemary.
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Good but not uplifting story
- By Kim on 08-02-23
By: Rebecca Kelley
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Summer Hours
- A Novel
- By: Amy Mason Doan
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Becc was the good girl. A dedicated student. Aspiring reporter. Always where she was supposed to be. Until a secret affair with the charming Cal one summer in college cost her everything she held dear: her journalism dreams; her relationship with her best friend, Eric; and her carefully imagined future. Now, Becc’s past is back front and center as she travels up the scenic California coast to a wedding - with a man she hasn’t seen in a decade. As each mile flies by, Becc can’t help but feel the thrilling push and pull of memories.
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LOVED IT
- By Margaret on 04-30-20
By: Amy Mason Doan
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One True Thing
- By: Anna Quindlen
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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A young woman sits in jail, accused of the mercy killing of her dying mother. She didn't do it, but she thinks she knows who did. In the last months of her life, Ellen Gulden's mother revealed startling secrets that challenged everything Ellen believed about her family. Now, in jail, Ellen believes those secrets will tell her who had the courage to end her mother's suffering.
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Quindlen's writing skills shine in One True Thing.
- By Bonny on 08-26-13
By: Anna Quindlen
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Garden Spells
- By: Sarah Addison Allen
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers.
Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.
Together again in the house they grew up in, the Waverley sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy - if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom - or with each other.
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I so want to give it 5 stars...!!!!
- By Joihelene on 10-09-10
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What I Carry
- By: Jennifer Longo
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? Foster families? A boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything - or anyone - that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes.
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Enlightening
- By Kindle Customer on 06-09-21
By: Jennifer Longo
What listeners say about The Butterfly Lampshade
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- all our stories
- 12-11-20
This wasn’t a good read choice during a period of social isolation
Fear is real to those who are held captive y it in their minds. This story illustrates the imprisonment of the mind of a daughter whose mother fights her struggle with mental illness. Is she really like her mother? Caution ! The back and forth of this story is madding .
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- Suzann Anaya
- 05-30-23
Awesome to listen to!
A sensitive novel, and was enthralled with the story and the sensitivity used to describe how it feels to live with someone who struggles with mental illness. 10 out of 10 would recommend! Also the narrator has a wonderful reading voice!
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- Billye Kay
- 09-05-23
Pushing and Pulling Time Mixed with Memories
The Butterfly Lampshade by Aimee Bender did not go far enough for me. The beauty of the writing was not enough to save this novel. This is the rare instance when a brilliant author writes a work with amazing potential but in the end leaves the reader unsatisfied. The ideas are great and the mood is perfect to tell a story blending magical elements with ordinary settings and extraordinary situations. In the end, there just wasn’t enough there to make a complete novel with a coherent story. I was struck and surprised by other reviewers elevating this novel to the level of Proust. The impact that mental illness has on the entire family is an important subject for talented writers like Aimee Bender to explore. For me, simply delving into the subject was not enough. I would recommend this book to only the most devoted fans of the author. The narration performance by Julia Whelan was okay but did not add anything to this material. In fact, the performance was so detached that it brought me further away from understanding the characters.
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Outstanding Read
First modern novel I've read that takes on the experience and repercussions of mental illness on the family. Characters are Aimee Bender all the way. I could not love her writing more.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 09-10-20
Quite a Journey!
Wow! This story truly took you on an intense ride! You are able to look inside the mind of someone who has been the victim of a family member with mental health issues. She is clearly struggling with several ways and you never know up until the very end if she also suffers from mental illness. eye opening and enlightening. And Julia is an incredible narrator- delivers the story beautifully!
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2 people found this helpful
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- PaulaRose
- 09-16-20
Boring
I could not get through this book. I love Julia Whelan but I didn’t feel the like this was our best work either. I didn’t feel like the story went anywhere and Even though I usually struggle to finish the book. I can’t do that with this one.
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