6 h 21 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 21 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the search for a fairy princess enters a world ruled by money and manners?
In The Silver Butterfly, Mrs. Wilson Woodrow brings romance and mystery into the glitter of the Gilded Age. New fortunes, grand houses and social ambition form the setting for a search for a woman who seems almost too charming to be real. Hidden money and secrets give longing a puzzle to follow.
The promise of a fairy princess meets the practical world of business and society. Here, love is not the only question worth pursuing: wealth and belonging also shape the world around it. Woodrow offers clear plotting, lively scenes and a warm tone, keeping the story light and quick-moving rather than weighed down by heavy argument.
What you’ll discover
- Money and manners Enter a world where rising fortunes meet society’s careful rules about who belongs.
- Romance with a puzzle Follow a love story whose mystery gives feeling a reason to keep moving.
- An elusive fairy princess Explore the longing for someone lovely, seemingly unreal and just beyond reach.
- Secrets and hidden fortunes Let the promise of concealed wealth draw you deeper into the romantic mystery.
- A warm, lively escape Enjoy clear plotting and lively scenes in a story that favors pleasure over heavy argument.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love romantic mysteries, society comedy, fairy tale frames and clever talk, or a treasure hunt that crosses ballrooms.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hayden comes home hoping for a fairy princess
- A silver butterfly at the opera starts a chase
- A dinner at the Gildersleeve ends with a promise
- Penfield the gossip and the lost mine
- The Veiled Mariposa speaks first by telephone
- Marcia lets Hayden walk her home
- Ydo the Gypsy and the fierce Mrs. Ames
- A butterfly dinner and a vanished bundle
- Money, gossip and the cost of appearances
- How the story is told through butterflies and fairy tales
Who’s who
- Robert HaydenA cheerful engineer home from years abroad who believes in fairy princesses and hopes to claim a lost mine.
- Marcia OldhamA gentle, gifted young woman who wears silver butterflies and guards a private reason for her way of life.
- Kitty HamptonHayden's quick, sulky and generous cousin, a society leader who loves arranging other people's affairs.
- Ydo CarrothersA free-spirited Gypsy fortune-teller, veiled as the Mariposa, who wants to know where Hayden's mine is.
- Horace PenfieldA thin, sharp-nosed gossip who feeds on other people's secrets and likes to stir the pot.
- Wilfred AmesA big, fair, good-natured man whom society expects to marry Marcia, though his heart has other ideas.
- Mrs. AmesWilfred's fierce old mother in rusty black and dusty diamonds, who hates a match and loves a scene.
- Mrs. OldhamMarcia's vain, helpless mother, who recalls her late husband's praise and keeps her daughter under pressure.
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The Silver Butterfly
by Mrs. Wilson Woodrow · 1908
A lost silver butterfly from an opera slipper sends engineer Robert Hayden after a fairy princess in New York.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What would you do if a woman at the opera wore silver butterflies from her hem to her slipper, then slipped away before the last act ended? Robert Hayden, an engineer home in New York after years of building railroads abroad, has told his cousin Kitty that he expects to meet a fairy princess around any corner.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hayden comes home hoping for a fairy princess
Robert Hayden is back in New York after several years building railroads in South America, Africa and China. He is lonely for the easy life of his native city.
One winter morning he walks down the Avenue with his cousin Kitty Hampton, a small, blond and very well-connected society woman. She complains that everything bores her. Hayden answers that he sees wonders on every side, and that he would not be surprised to meet a fairy princess at any moment. Asked about his money, he admits he hopes for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Woodrow, Wilson, Mrs. The Silver Butterfly. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-silver-butterfly.
Woodrow, W., Mrs. (2026). The silver butterfly. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-silver-butterfly (Original work published 1908)
Woodrow, Wilson, Mrs. The Silver Butterfly. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-silver-butterfly.
@book{woodrow2026silver,
author = {Woodrow, Wilson, Mrs.},
title = {The Silver Butterfly},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-silver-butterfly},
note = {First published 1908}
}
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What is The Silver Butterfly about?
It tells of Robert Hayden, an engineer home in New York, who falls for a woman wearing silver butterflies and hunts for the owners of a lost mine called the Veiled Mariposa while a mysterious fortune-teller draws closer.
Who is the Veiled Mariposa?
Mariposa is the Spanish word for butterfly. It names a lost mine in South America and also a masked fortune-teller in New York, whose real name, Ydo Carrothers, Hayden learns when he visits her studio.
What do the silver butterflies mean?
Hayden suspects they hold a meaning tied to the lost mine, and that question drives much of the plot.
The author
Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
1867–1935 · American novelist
Mrs. Wilson Woodrow was an American author who lived from 1867 to 1935. She wrote fiction under her married name. Her novel The Silver Butterfly was published in 1908. She lived in the United States and wrote during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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