The Butterfly Garden: Surviving Childhood on the Run with One of America's Most Wanted

by: Chip St. Clair

Published by: Health Communications, Inc.

Reviewed by Krista Quinn

Imagine a growing up in a turbulent household, with an abusive father and a mother who either defended him or kept to herself. This is what Chip St. Clair’s childhood was like. He never knew what would upset his dad and so he spent his childhood tiptoeing around. But, the abuse never stopped, although it did come in different forms. Sometimes Chip was simply beat, and other times he was forced to play along with his father Dave’s twisted idea of a “joke” or a “game.” Once, while on a family vacation, Chip and his father went out into the center of Lake Michigan in a rowboat, where his dad then threw him into the freezing cold water. Dave paddled back to shore, leaving Chip alone, with no choice but to swim back to shore.

Years later, when Chip is in college, he learns that his father’s name isn’t really David St. Clair and that his father is a fugitive who escaped from prison years before and has been on the run ever since. With the help of his loving girlfriend Lisa, Chip begins a journey to discover who he really is and where he came from.

This memoir is a most interesting real-life crime story and I was immediately pulled into Chip St. Clair’s harrowing world—the world he so accurately describes for his reader. He skillfully begins with his childhood and takes the reader through the rest of his life. He struggles to put the pieces of his past together and with detailed descriptions the reader feels like he is right there with Chip the whole time.

At many points throughout the narrative, Chip stops telling the story in chronological order to insert a tender word about his wife Lisa or how he learned to cope with his childhood and make it to the other side as a healthy adult. While I certainly appreciate that Chip fought an epic battle throughout his childhood, I think the narrative would have made an even stronger impact on the reader if he’d saved this information for a chapter all its own, delivered at the end.

Armchair Interviews says: Powerful story in this memoir.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ChipStClair.com