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

At a glance:

Author: Julia Alvarez
First Published: 1994
Type of Plot: Historical realism
Time of Work: 1928 to 1994
Setting: The Dominican Republic
Principal Characters: Dedé Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal, Patria Mirabal, María Teresa (Mate)
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

In the Time of the Butterflies is the fictional story of four real persons, the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic. In 1960, three of the sisters, members of the underground movement opposing the regime of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, were ambushed on a lonely mountain road and assassinated. Alvarez’s novel, made up of three sections and an epilogue, intersperses chapters for each sister. All except Dedé’s are first-person narrations; Dedé does narrate the epilogue, however.

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

At a glance:

The Novel

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