In the Time of the Butterflies

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.

Julia Alvarez does a brilliant job blending fact and fiction. The story of the Mirabal sisters is brought to life by Alvarez's extraordinary style of writing. I just can't find the right words to describe this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down, wanting to read more and more. At times it is humorous and delightful, at others sad and horrific.

It is written from the perspective of each sister: the pious and religious Patria (the oldest), the strong and fiesty Minerva (I love her best), the sensitive yet willful Maria Theresa, and Dede - the one who lived. The one who realized her strength and independence despite her doubts. Even though it is Dede who was not killed in the ambush on "the lonely mountain road," it is really all four women who are survivors; Patria, Mate, and Minerva lost their lives, yet their spirits and their courage live on. Through Dede they live on. Perhaps that is why she was not killed - to live to tell her sisters' stories as well as her own. Dede has always wondered why she escaped death, why she wasn't killed; interviewers always ask her that, yet she does not know why. But I believe that is the reason: she could tell their story.

It is interesting how different and diverse the four sisters' personalities are, yet I see a bit of each one in every woman. Patria, the hopeful; Minerva, the feminist; Maria Theresa, the giver; and Dede, the unsure yet strong.

What's more I learned of the dictator Trujillo and what was like to have lived under his regime. I never knew about him, never even heard of him until I read this book. This made me want to read and learn more not only about the Mirabal sisters, but about Trujillo ("El Jefe"). I love to read a book of fiction and learn about historical events - about people who actually existed and made a difference despite everything going against them. I learned of a period of history in a country that I knew nothing about (The Dominican Republic [I wonder why it's called that?] as well as a dictator I never heard of. For that, I thank Julia Alvarez.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I recommend it highly for everyone - men and women, Dominican and non-Dominican, young and old. It is an inspiring read.


The Story of Four Sisters and Their Struggle   October 1, 2000
Luis Hernandez (New York, New York, USA)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Based on actual events, "In the Time of the Butterflies," is a tragic look at the four Mirabal sisters and their struggle to bring an end to the tyrannical regime of the Dominican Republic's most notorious dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Known for his ruthlessness and his ability to make his political enemies disappear without a trace, Trujillo's regime was one of the most brutal in Latin American history.

After taking over the country with the assistance of the military, Trujillo began a campaign of making himself somewhat of a demigod, even renaming the nation's capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo ("Trujillo City"). During this time, four sisters unified the Dominican resistance in trying to bring freedom and justice to that nation. While their husbands suffered in the nation's worst prison, the Mirabal sisters face uncertain perils and repression from Trujillo's henchmen.

While the author doesn't really discuss the main reason for Trujillo's infatuation with one of the sisters, their story is one of the most memorable cases of human rights abuses on record. Trujillo, son of biracial parents, never was accepted into traditional Dominican society due to his skin color. In a country where race plays a very important role in your social standing, this was a slap to the face, and after meeting one of the Mirabal sisters before his ascent to power, and getting rejected by her, it seems like the main motives for their murders was primarily for vengeance.

Told from the point of view of the only sister to survive the accident that claimed the lives of the other three, Dede's view is somewhat blurry to an extent. Seeing that some of the novel has fictional dialogue, it is understandable why the novel moves in a slow, yet respectful approach.

Julia Alvarez, who also wrote "Yo!" and "How the Garcia Sisters Lost Their Accents" is probably the best writer to come out of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean in recent years. A resident of Vermont, Ms. Alvarez is an intelligent, well-researched woman who has given the world works that explore the trials and tribulations faced by many Dominicans on and off the island.

The Mirabal sister's legacy has been remembered worldwide. The date three of the sisters died now has become the United Nation's "International Day Against Violence Towards Women." Also in an ironic twist, one of Dede's sons became Vice-President of the Dominican Republic in 1995 when he and presidential candidate Leonel Fernandez defeated incumbent Joaquin Balaguer in that year's elections. Joaquin Balaguer was Trujillo's protege and right-hand man, and it was at Balaguer's insistance that Trujillo be buried at Paris' Pere LaChaise cemetery (final resting place of "Doors" singer Jim Morrison and author Oscar Wilde) in order to prevent his grave's desecration.

Presently, Mexican superstar Salma Hayek has purchased the rights to this novel, and is currently filming the story of the Mirabal sisters into a motion picture that will air on the Showtime cable network in 2001. Hopefully, Ms. Hayek's film will capture the importance of Ms. Alvarez's novel without leaving out any details. Overall, "In the Time of the Butterflies" is a tragic, yet moving tribute to four heroes and their struggle for liberty in a country where justice, equality, and democracy are all threatened.


Tragic and haunting   January 2, 2004
Peggy Vincent (Oakland, CA)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

In the Time of the Butterflies is political history rendered read through fiction format and through the gifted poetic, lyrical writing of what we can now claim as a national treasure: Julia Alvarez.
The Mirabel sisters, born into a conservative and pious Catholic extended family, were martyred during the last days of Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The book chronicles their movement, over time, from the pampered bosom of an upper-class family into the cause of revolution. Alvarez, having lived it herself, captures the atmosphere of what it's like to live in a police state, in which the population exists under the threat of atrocities and horror that dare not be acknowledged. As the sisters' fervor turns to tragedy, Alvarez writes movingly of their courageous desperation.
Mesmerizing, and as the end of this book approaches, you know what's coming and don't want to read it. I found myself kind of looking out the corner of my eye at the page, reading only half a page at a time, putting it aside, reading again...
Spectacular accomplishment.


In the Time of the Butterflies   October 20, 2003
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

"In the Time of the Butterflies" was an amazing story. I enjoyed every page. Usually, I am not someone who likes to read about historical happenings; but this novel is all about history and it was amazing. I liked the stucture Julia Alvarez used. She wrote it as each sister telling their side of the story. It was very intersting. Especially how she wrote Maria Teresa's side. She wrote it as her journal. Reading this novel, I not only got the pleasure of reading out of it, I also learned about happenings and the emotions of the people who lived in Dominacan Republic at the time.