The Butterfly Waltz

Llangrove Hall, in north-east Wales, is sheltered by rolling moorland and forest to the west, and the hills of the Clwydian Range to the east. It’s here that Nia Kemp lives with her parents; her cat, Taliesin; and her stack of David Attenborough books. But Nia’s twenty-two years of happy existence is threatened by her mother’s disappearance back to her native Sweden and the arrival of two newcomers.

Cathy Wyatt is hired to take on the social media role for the estate’s new farm shop. Meanwhile, Robert Somerville, an up-and-coming young actor, comes to stay in the nearby market town, ostensibly to research his new role in an epic film about the Normans in north Wales. A mix-up with keys leads to them sharing a flat in town.

Nia is soon captivated by Robert and sees him as a potential way to straighten out the tangle in her heart.

In the weeks that follow, a kind of midsummer madness sets in, resulting in jealousy, seduction and misconceptions, which reach a climax at the Llangrove midsummer night dance.