The Behaviour of Moths - Poppy Adams

An elderly lady Virginia, a lepidopterist by profession, her academic study of moths making her reclusive, obsessive and a little eccentric, has been living alone in her family’s crumbling Dorset mansion. Little by little over the years she has been disposing of the family’s “clutter”, all the precious furniture, as well as all the unwelcome family associations it holds for her. The memories of the past, with her mother Maud and her studies with her father Clive all come back when her wayward sister Vivian returns after decades of absence. Her return seems to be prompted by something she is looking for in the house, but with so much having been sold off, will she find what she is looking for?

Neither the title nor the premise of Poppy Adams novel hold much attraction, suggesting a rather academic study of the human behaviour of an eccentric family reduced to the automatic responses and activities of the moth. There is indeed rather a lot of background information provided on the behaviour and characteristics of moths and, reduced to living on her own in a carefully organised, mannered way, we are evidently expected to view Virginia in a similar light. There is very little to hold the reader in the way of intrigue or events for quite a long period, and the characterisation is rather thin, being that of eccentric academics and landed gentry, but it’s certainly worth persevering as the family secrets start tumbling out of the closet.