How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, released in 1991, is Alvarez's debut novel. Largely based on her own life, the book is a collection of stories about Dominican sisters who grow up in America, having fled from Trujillo's oppressive regime. Sybil Steinberg, in her review for Publishers Weekly, remarked that Alvarez "has an ear for the dialogue of non-natives, and the strong flavors of Dominican syntax and cultural values." Narrated from multiple perspectives, the stories depict the rebellion of young, first-generation American women against their parents. Through each sister's account, Alvarez illustrates their adaptation to a new country and society, a process that often displeases their parents. This debut novel earned Alvarez the Pen Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature.

The Other Side: El Otro Lado, a poetry book by Alvarez, was published in 1995. It traces "a lyrical journey through the landscape of immigrant life … [and] ends with the title poem 'The Other Side/El Otro Lado,' a multi-part narrative recounting her return to her homeland as a woman transformed—translated—by the years she has lived in America from native to guest," as described by a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. Homecoming: New and Collected Poems (1996) expands on her collection of the same name first published in 1984.

In 1997, Alvarez published the novel Yo!, which Cynthia Tompkins in World Literature Today described as "a delightfully humorous exploration of cross-cultural and feminist issues." Tompkins noted that the focus shifts to a middle-aged perspective of the García sisters introduced in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, evaluating the choices they made while growing up. Plume/Penguin has also released a Spanish translation of Yo! by Dolores Prida.

Alvarez continues to share insights and memories of her childhood in the Dominican Republic and her move to New York in Something to Declare (1998). Laura Jamison, writing for People Weekly, observed that Alvarez has come to understand she is "a cultural hybrid who could never truly go home." In USA Today Magazine, Steven G. Kellman noted that

Alvarez confesses a fondness for gossip, and Something to Declare imparts innocent intelligence about its twice-divorced author, now married to a doctor from Nebraska. Her conflicted impulse toward revelation, she explains, stems from a Latin culture that cherishes storytelling but also demands reticence in well-bred daughters. The chatter of family maids most helped her find her narrative voice.

According to a critic in Publishers Weekly, the essays aim to address readers' questions about her life and writing.

• Barnstorm Films and Phoenix Pictures have acquired the rights to produce a film adaptation of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Sources

Alvarez, Julia. "A Brief Account of My Writing Life," in Appalachian State University Summer Reading Program, http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/4061/alvarez.html, 1997.

———. "Genetics of Justice," in her book Something to Declare, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1998, pp. 103-11.

Behar, Ruth. "Revolutions of the Heart," in The Women's Review of Books, May 1995, pp. 6-7.

Bing, Jonathan. "Julia Alvarez: Books that Cross Borders," in Publishers Weekly, Vol. 243, No. 51, 1996, pp. 38-39.

Brown, Isabel Zakrzewski. "Historiographic Metafiction in In the Time of the Butterflies," in South Atlantic Review, Spring 1999, pp. 98-112.

Echevarría, Roberto González. "Sisters in Death," in The New York Times Book Review, December 18, 1994, p. 28.

Martínez, Elizabeth Coonrod. "Recovering a Space for a History between Imperialism and Patriarchy: Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies," in Thamyris, Autumn 1998, pp. 263-79.

Mujica, Barbara. Review in Americas, March-April 1995, p. 60.

Pritchett, Kay. Review in World Literature Today, Autumn 1995, p. 789.

Stavans, Ilan. "Las Mariposas," in Nation, November 7, 1994, pp. 552-56.

Further Reading

Alvarez, Julia. "Chasing the Butterflies," in her book Something to Declare, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1998, pp. 197-209. In this essay, Alvarez details her search for information about the Mirabal sisters and her journey in writing a novel about them.

Arias, Aurora. "The Mirabal Sisters," in Connexions, Vol. 39, 1992, pp. 4-5. This article offers a brief overview of the Mirabal family, with a primary focus on Minerva.

Hampton, Janet Jones. Review in Belles Lettres: A Review of Books by Women, Spring 1995, pp. 6-7. Hampton commends the novel and identifies its central theme as "every person's accommodation of injustice."

Hooper, Brad. Review in Booklist, July 1994, p. 1892. Hooper's succinct review is positive, stating that the novel adeptly balances domestic and political drama.

Kelm, Rebecca S. Review in Library Journal, August 1994, p. 123. In this brief review, Kelm highly recommends the book and applauds Alvarez for her focus on the characters' personal lives.

Miller, Susan. "Family Spats, Urgent Prayers," in Newsweek, October 17, 1994, p. 77. Miller praises Alvarez for her character portrayals and compares her to Denise Chavez.

Review in Publishers Weekly, July 11, 1994, p. 62. This anonymous review claims that although the novel starts slowly, it eventually reaches "a gripping intensity." It also suggests that María Teresa's story evolves from being the least engaging to the most compelling of the four sisters' narratives.

Rosario-Sievert, Heather. "Conversation with Julia Alvarez," in Review: Latin American Literature and Arts, Spring 1997, pp. 31-37. In this interview, Alvarez discusses her writing background, challenges as a Latina author, sources of inspiration, and her perspective on the Dominican Republic.

Roth, Heather. "Sisters in Revolution," in Ms. Magazine, September-October 1994, pp. 79-80. Roth describes how Alvarez portrays the many rebellions of the Mirabal sisters, offering a narrative that is both inspirational and tragic.