The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

drawing by Ema Poposka

I was drawn to this book by the beautifyl butterflies on its cover. But the book is not really about butterflies Lepidoptery is the study of butterflies, and a lepidopterist (or an aurelian, as we learn by the end of the book) is a person studying butterflies.

"'Leprocy' comes from lepido, meaning 'scaly'. He grimaces. "Having encountered such people myself, I can attest to the suitability of the word. it is quite disgusting to behold."

I never knew about leprosy before reading this book. Reading this book made me more aware about the desease, but also what people who are different have to endure and go through, unaccept by their environment. Because of people who are selfish and uninformed, little Ami gets separated from her leprose mother, although that is completely unnecessary.

Unexpected friendships

"Ami, if you always worry about the worst that could happen, you'd never do anything."

In an orphanage Ami is withdrown and does not have many friends. Kids are scared of her because her mother has leprocy. The only one who will come close to her is the albino girl with a bad hand. They find themselves in a similar situation of being looked down by others, and this helps them get close to one another. Mari teaches Ami to be brave and take action.

"Some butterflies only live a day, some a week, some a month. But they spend every one of those days busy living. And they make the world a more beautiful place, however brief their time."

The end of the story comes a bit unexplained. A lot of years pass and Ami is an old women. Although she gets separated from Mari she never stops thinking of her. However, if two hearts really want to find each other they will eventually find a way to be together. I would have loved to know what happens to Mari and Ami in the years they are separated.

Culion island today Photo by Cyrus Lobrigas (cc via flickr)

The setting for this story is based on a real even. Cullion island in the Philiphiness was really the largest leper colony in the world, where all the people with leprocy lived isolated from the other population. This was before the qure for this desease was invented. Now, Culion and the nearby Coron islands are tourist destinations.