In the Time of the Butterflies
by Julia Alvarez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Julia AlvarezEdition: Paperback
Published: 1995-08-01
ISBN: 0452274427
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of In the Time of the Butterflies
Book Review: "Thou art strong and great, a hero."
Summary: 5 Stars
My sister-in-law bought this as a gift for me years ago and it ended up being one of my top 5 favorite novels of all time.
"In the Time of the Butterflies" is the true story of 4 sisters living in the Dominican Republic during the reign of the dictator Rafael Trujillo ("El Jefe"). Trujillo's reign was incredibly violent and he took personal pleasure in using fear and torture to achieve his political gains.
The 4 Mirabal sisters ("Las Miraposas") took on enormous personal risks in engaging in a systematic, underground movement to undermine Trujillo's dictatorship. Sadly, the Mirabals were caught for their involvement in the movement and 3 of the sisters were murdered in 1960, one year before Trujillo himself was assassinated. The remaining sister still lives in the Dominican Republic, where she tends to a museum that memorializes her sisters.
Julia Alvarez presents this incredible story of the Mirabal sisters with an amazing aptitude for language and a meticulous attention to detail. The book is very well researched and Ms. Alvarez does an awe-inspiring job of weaving historical fact into the narrative while maintaining a story rich with character and feeling.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in these extraordinary, courageous women and, in reading their story, you will pay homage to the considerable risks they took to protect their country and their people.
Summary of In the Time of the Butterflies
From the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents comes this tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship. A skillful blend of fact and fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government. Alvarez breathes life into these historical figures--known as "las mariposas," or "the butterflies," in the underground--as she imagines their teenage years, their gradual involvement with the revolution, and their terror as their dissentience is uncovered.Alvarez's controlled writing perfectly captures the mounting tension as "the butterflies" near their horrific end. The novel begins with the recollections of Dede, the fourth and surviving sister, who fears abandoning her routines and her husband to join the movement. Alvarez also offers the perspectives of the other sisters: brave and outspoken Minerva, the family's political ringleader; pious Patria, who forsakes her faith to join her sisters after witnessing the atrocities of the tyranny; and the baby sister, sensitive Maria Teresa, who, in a series of diaries, chronicles her allegiance to Minerva and the physical and spiritual anguish of prison life.
In the Time of the Butterflies is an American Library Association Notable Book and a 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award nominee.
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