The Butterfly Man

Can a dying man maintain his deception when his mind begins to fail him? The award-winning novel from the bestselling author of Bruny.


Winner of the 2006 Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel


On 7 November 1974, a young English nanny named Sandra Rivett was killed in London's West End. Her employer, Lord Lucan, was accused of her murder. It was widely assumed he had mistaken her for his wife. Lord Lucan disappeared the night Sandra Rivett died and has never been seen since. 


Henry Kennedy lives on a mountain on the other side of the world. He is not who he says he is. Is he a murderer or a man who can never clear his name? And is he the only one with something to hide? 


Set in Tasmania, Africa and London's Belgravia, The Butterfly Man is a novel about transformation and deception, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the ones we love.


'The success of this exquisitely crafted novel is that it is difficult to remind oneself that it is a work of imagination.' The West Australian 


'Rose's lyrical melding is masterful. Intriguing as the real-life events of the Lucan story are, Rose transforms it into something far more substantial.' The Weekend Australian 


'Despite the brutal murder that lies at the heart of this impressive novel, the tone of The Butterfly Man is strangely gentle, almost meditative.' The Courier Mail 


'This is a moving novel about a man's struggle to say goodbye to those who have come to love him for the lies he has told.' The Canberra Times