The Butterfly Garden - Review by Chase Briggs

The Butterfly Garden

By Chip St. Clair

Review by Chase Briggs

I’ve never encountered a convict before, but author Chip St. Clair put me in his shoes and I actually felt like I knew his father. In Chip’s memoir his dad is an escapee on the America’s most wanted list and Chip is just a kid having no idea that his parents are on the run from the law.

Chip used such emotion in this book and that’s truly why I loved it. He tells about his memories of his dad when he was little and just some of the things he was put through are what really made him an inspiration to readers. There’s this one time where Chip was thrown into the middle of Lake Michigan and his dad rowed to shore. Chip was made to swim a couple miles. At the time, Chip didn’t know how to swim, so he was panicking the whole time almost drowning. When Chip was a child he was beaten a lot by his dad and even was made to dangle from a 10 story balcony.

The Butterfly Garden really takes you on an emotional roller coaster because at some parts you can see that Chips dad is a funny guy, but then you realize how harsh he is and what a terrible human being he became. Readers will absolutely love this book for that reason. Towards the end Chip is trying to solve a mystery in a way because he can’t really figure out exactly who he is, who is parents are, and why they never told him. Throughout the novel as a reader, you begin to become more interested in what’s going to happen next. You begin to experience the same feelings as what Chip is going through which makes you keep turning the pages.

When I first bought The Butterfly Garden I didn’t think it would be anything great until I got a couple chapters in and the action immediately took off! Chip talks about all his horrible memories of his family and how he moved to several different states as a kid. That can really take a toll on a kid, losing all his friends, his homes, and his former life there. You can get very attached to something and in the middle of the night he’d have to up and leave.

I would recommend The Butterfly Garden for a limitless amount of reasons. This is what Dave Pelzer, author of the book it had to say. “The Butterfly Garden delivers a bold and powerful story of tragedy and triumph. This book gives one the courage to look within, and provides everlasting hope in the human spirit. St. Clair's work inspires and empowers." As you can see, this book has been chosen by many popular names. In the end Chip discovers who he really is and who his parents really are. If you want to find out though, you’ll just have to find that out on your own.