In the Time of the Butterflies

Librarian's Note: This ISBN has a different cover available here.

This remarkable book, which takes place in the Dominican Republic in 1960 during the latter days of the Trujillo dictatorship, relates the tale of the three young wives and mothers, the Mirabal sisters, who are slain after visiting their imprisoned husbands.

This story of bravery and sisterhood, which takes place in the Dominican Republic during the emergence of the Trujillo dictatorship, is written by the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The actual tale of the three Mirabal sisters, who were killed in 1960 for their involvement in an underground plan to overthrow the government, served as the inspiration for the deftly rendered combination of truth and fiction in In the Time of the Butterflies. Alvarez vividly depicts the adolescent years, their eventual engagement with the revolution, and their dread when their dissent is exposed for the historical personalities known as "las mariposas," or "the butterflies," in the underground.

The growing suspense as "the butterflies" approach their horrifying conclusion is well captured by Alvarez's restrained language. The fourth and last sister, Dede, whose memories open the book, is afraid to leave her routines and her husband behind in order to join the movement. The other sisters' perspectives are also provided by Alvarez: Patria, the devout sister who abandons her faith to join her sisters after seeing the atrocities of the tyrant; Minerva, the family's political ringleader; and Maria Teresa, the younger sister, who is sensitive and writes a series of diaries detailing her devotion to Minerva and the psychological and physical suffering of prison life.

A 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, In the Time of the Butterflies is a Notable Book from the American Library Association.