Butterfly's Child, a novel by A. Davis-Gardner

Butterfly's Child by Angela Davis-Gardner picks up the story where the famous opera, Madame Butterfly, by Puccino, leaves off.  Although I am not a huge fan of opera, I don't live under a rock.  I have attended several productions of Madame Butterfl.  It is a beautiful, poignant opera that tells the all too common tale, of foreigners leaving behind pregnant women & bastard children.  Not only are these women & children abandoned, the children are often shunned as mongrels; mired in a state of povery & purgatory.  The idea of expounding on the tale of what became of Pinkerton's son with his Japanese "Geisha" whom he disavows when returning to Japan is intriguing.  The author begins her story in Nagasaki @ the end of the 19th C.  Cio-Cio & Pinkerton's son is 5 when Pinkerton returns to Nagasaki with his American bride.   Cio-Cio prepares their son to meet his father.  Pinkerton arrives with his new wife whereupon Cio-Cio commits hara-kari to the horror of everyone, including the young boy.  The local Christian minister prevails upon the couple to take the lad back to the United States as the orphaned child will surely suffer a life misery.  Deeming it the "Christian" thing to do, the couple bring the boy back home to their farm in IL  They claim to have adopted the orphaned child renamed Benji.  Pinkerton denying Benji as his son, is hardly the only cruelty Benji endures.  At first, I admired the irrepressible spirit Benji possesses.  However, Benji's life turns into an incredulous journey to return to his native homeland.  The final coupe de grace was when Madame Butterfly the opera, became integral to the novel.  The play within the play had me singing foul.  Don't bother with this melodrama.   Listen to Puccin's opera instead.