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| View Larger Image | In the Time of the Butterflies
by Julia Alvarez
| | List Price: | $15.00 | | Price: | $10.20 | | You Save: | $4.80 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 10633 | | Studio: | Plume | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 352 | | Publication Date: | August 01, 1995 | | Publisher: | Plume |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
A fictional account of the young lives of Mirabal sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, otherwise known in the Dominican Republic as Las Mariposas, describes their suffering and martyrdom in the last days of the Trujillo dictatorship. Reprint. Tour. PW. |
Amazon.com Review
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. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 157 reviews)
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A great read 
A great read, no matter what your politics are. Instead of making political figures into demons or little plaster saints as we're all so fond of doing, Alvarez draws them as real women who are sometimes heroic and sometimes just trying to get the kids to bed. A gripping story with believable characters and a window on a time and place I knew little about.
September 23, 2008 | |
a story every American needs to know
As a "Gringo" I am forever grateful to Julia Alvarez for bringing this important story to a larger audience. Actually I saw the film first, and then read the book -- in any case it is a story every American needs to know, so that, as Dede Mirabal says, we don't repeat history. To my way of thinking, the overthrow of Trujillo came late and was more legitimate than the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It's too bad the U.S. framed communism as an enemy rather than a friend of democracy!
September 15, 2008 | |
Excellent 
It was a beautiful story about something that I really knew nothing about. I laughed and cried and learned a lot.
August 22, 2008 | |
Remarkable
This is one of the most beautiful, powerful books I have read. Images from this book have stayed with me for years. I strongly recommend it.
July 19, 2008 | |
"Thou art strong and great, a hero."
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.
April 30, 2008 | |
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