Western opera's opulent pageantry contradicts traditional Japanese understated aesthetics. In the novel "Butterfly's Child," Angela Davis-Gardner resolves this difference by crafting a subdued, multilayered marvel of delicacy as she imagines what happens to the half-American love child of Giacomo Puccini's famed character, Madame Butterfly or Cio-Cio to opera fans.
The tragic love story of the fickle American naval officer and the gorgeous geisha who pines for him enthralled audiences almost from its first production in 1904 Italy. Today, it is the eighth most performed opera in the world, and Davis-Gardner admits her inspiration for the novel came after a performance when a friend wondered aloud what happened next to Butterfly's child, last seen on stage staring in shock at his mother's lifeless body.
The opera's origins can be traced to various fictional accounts, yet John Luther Long, the author of a 1898 short story of the same name, claimed his fiction was based on facts retold by his sister, a missionary in 19th-century Nagasaki. Davis-Gardner also bases her novel firmly in reality, leaving divas and dramatics to the stage.