Synopsis Bottled Butterfly explores the themes of family dynamics, social and religious culture, and significant life events that influence the intellectual and emotional development of children. Through young Nellie, it tackles the impact of geographical cultural beliefs, poverty, illiteracy, and the dysfunctions of family life on children and how those issues influence our behavior in adulthood. The novel is set in the 1930's and 1940's in rural Ohio, but it clearly shows that the issues that confronted young women then remain much the same in the twenty-first century. Nellie's childhood ends at eleven years of age when she is sexually attacked by the man in the woods and members of the family and the church lay the blame partially on her. Frightened and filled with guilt, she determines to push her joyful spirit aside and become the person others expect her to be. She becomes the bottled butterfly. Her family's extreme poverty and the secrets her parents keep from her and her siblings add to her anxiety and confusion, and she becomes more and more conflicted. The primary lesson that sustains her is the one her Aunt Lizzie teaches her about "fortitude". Nellie is a courageous young woman with deep inner strength, a big heart, and an insatiable longing to be something more than others envision for her. There is within her an unrest, a need to do something important with her life, and the gift of imagination that others around her do not have. There is a life tucked inside her mind that no one else is able to see, and it is her aspirations for her own daughter that push her into making that life a reality. Bottled Butterfly validates the enduring strength and potential of the human spirit, and the creativity that is often buried within us. It demonstrates that often it takes just one person or, possibly, an epiphany to set us free and allow us to reach our full potential. Bottled Butterfly is a serious work of fiction that will appeal to readers of all ages. Read excerpts from the novel... Bottled Butterfly is available for purchase from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, ArcheBooks Publishing, and other fine bookstores.