“A Dream of Butterflies”: The William Trevor Reader

“A Dream of Butterflies” is an interesting one. It feels a bit hodge-podgey to me, a combination of several dominant Trevor story types, among them “People Forced to Account,” “A Long Uncomfortable Conversation,” and “Introducing an English Village.” The story unfurls in an unusual way, introducing multiple characters as they wake up with a sense of relief. They are relieved, we find out, because their village has successfully fought off the efforts of a Dr. Golkorn from buying a place called Luffnell Lodge from an elderly couple, the Allenbys. Dr. Golkorn, we learn in time (the story is cagey on this point—slightly annoyingly, in my reading) wants to establish a mental hospital for troubled women in the