In the Time of the Butterflies | In the Time of the Butterflies

At a glance:

Author: Julia Alvarez
First Published: 1994
Type of Work: Novel
Time of Work: 1938 to 1994
Setting: The Dominican Republic
Principal Characters: Don Enrique Mirabal, Doña Mercedes Reyes Viuda Mirabal, Patria Mercedes Mirabal González, Pedrito González, Dedé Mirabal, Jaimito, Minerva Mirabal, Manolo, María Teresa “Mate” Mirabal Rodríguez, Leandro, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo
Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
Subjects: Family or family life, Caribbean, Power, personal or social, Politics, Murder or homicide, Middle classes, Revolutions, Courage, Social issues, Brothers and sisters, Oppression, Farms, farmers, or farming, Adultery, Sisters, Heroes or heroism, Dominican Republican or Dominicans
Locales: Dominican Republic

Julia Alvarez’s butterflies are the four Mirabal sisters, whose code name in the revolutionary underground was Mariposa, Spanish for butterfly. These women, daughters of Don Enrique Mirabal, a landed merchant-farmer who became prosperous and socially prominent, and his wife, Doña Mercedes, referred to as “Mamá” throughout the novel, were born into a rising middle class.

In the early 1930’s, an ambitious military man, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, barely literate and from humble origins, rose to be Dominican Chief of Military Operations. He seized the reins of government...

In the Time of the Butterflies | In the Time of the Butterflies

At a glance:

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