The Island at the End of Everything

Butterflies flutter through the pages of this story set in the Philippines in 1906. The island of Culion is a leper colony but there are children like Amihan born without the disease. She lives with her mother who is very frail and whose nose has almost disappeared because of the leprosy. Along comes Mr. Zamora from the government who announces that all the non-leper children will be removed to an orphanage on an island off the coast of Culion. Mr. Zamora is a lepidopterist and somewhat obsessed with his mission, and with his collection of butterflies. Amihan and the other children sail to the orphanage where she is befriended by Mari with whom she concocts a plan to sail back to Culion to see her mother when she learns is dying. This is the second novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave; the first The Girl of Ink and Stars has just won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. It is a lyrically written story about a horrible disease and the stigmatization to which sufferers were exposed at this time and in deed until quite recently. The Princess of Wales brought this to the public's attention before she died of course. But behind the suffering is the emotional story of a girl's love for her mother and the perilous journey she was prepared to make to be with her before she died. It is also the story of Mari, cast out from her family because of a deformed hand, and her determination to help her friend, and also to escape the fate Mr Zamora had planned for her. Zamora is the villain of the story but the nuns who did their best to help Nanay, Amihan's mother, and the children at the orphanage are shown in a much more sympathetic light. The butterflies people the story too, part of Amihan's knowledge of her father, and the symbol of hope for the children and Nanay and appear on many pages, emphasizing their importance in the story. The description of the children walking through the clouds of butterflies is truly beautiful and stays in the memory long after the book is finished. This is a magical story with a hard centre but a satisfying ending. I was lucky enough to read Ms Hargrave's first novel and this is a totally different and unique second novel, showing clearly what a terrific talent she is. 288 pages / Ages 10+ / Reviewed by Janet Fisher, librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 9+