THE BUTTERFLY'S DAUGHTER by Mary Alice Monroe

Four very different women embark on a transformational journey that follows the migrating monarchs across the United States to Mexico. The story begins when Luz Avila's grandmother, the local butterfly lady, purchases an old, orange VW bug for a road trip home to Mexico. When she unexpectedly dies, Luz is inspired to take her grandmother's ashes home. In the manner of the Aztec myth of the goddess who brings light to the world, Luz attracts a collection of lost women, each seeking change in their lives. The Mexican people believe the monarchs are the spirits of the recently departed and Luz taps into ancient rituals and myths as she follows the spectacular, glittering river of orange monarchs in the sky to home.

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou

Chapters:
One - Each fall, millions of delicate orange and black butterflies fly more than two thousand miles from the United States and Canada to overwinter in the mountains of central Mexico. The annual migration of the monarch is a phenomenal story -- a miracle of instinct and survival.

Two - The Rocky Mountains divide the migration pattern. Generally, monarchs west of the Rockies travel to small groves of trees along the California coast. Monarchs from the central and eastern Canadian provinces and the eastern and midwestern United States fly south to the oyamel forests in the mountains of Mexico. But they are the same species.

Three - Monarch Butterflies that emerge in the fall are unique. Butterflies that emerge in the spring and summer live two to four weeks. But the forth-generation monarchs that emerge in the fall do not mate. They follow their instincts and migrate south. Called the Methuselah generation, they live for six to seven months.

Chapters 4 onward to follow as I read this book.