I recently read a book for a class that I didn’t expect to get what I did out of it. I thought I’d read half of it and write a mostly good paper since I procrastinated a little too hard. Instead, I couldn’t put the book down because how captivated and attached I became to the girls in the story.

Julia Alvarez’s book In The Time of The Butterflies follows the lives of the four Mirabal sisters and their families. The novel is based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters and their deaths.

The Mirabal girls, or Las Mariposas, live in the Dominican Republic in the mid 1900s. During this time, Rafael Trujillo was the dictator over the country and had eyes everywhere. It was like living under Big Brother. There were ears listening in every place of work, on their property, and in their homes. He had power over the Dominican Republic for over 30 years. This book is the story of how Las Mariposas helped end his reign of terror.

The novel opens with an interview with Dedé, the only sister alive, happening the 90s. The three other sisters, Patria, Mate, and Minerva, were murdered by the government in 1960.

Bear with me, I want to explain how this book unfolds, but it may sound a tad confusing. The book is divided into three parts, and each part has a chapter four chapters; one chapter for each sister. Within some of the chapters, there are 1-3 sections that are usually marked as different years. This is important to explain because their story unfolds over the span of 20+ years, not a few months or years.

Alvarez does a wonderful job making each girl have their own voice and it feels like they are telling their own story. I really loved the youngest sisters chapters, Mate, because they are written as journal entries. She has a big age gap between her older sisters which makes watching her become more and more involved with the liberation movement really interesting.

The liberation movement works underground so to speak. Everyone who is involved has code names, and the Mirabal’s are las mariposas. The things they discuss are often in code was well to protect themselves from the government catching on. There are carriers that deliver weapons to homes for protection and secrete meetings to create and perfect plans. The Mirabal sisters are at the center of the operation because their desire to fight for freedom is their life’s work.

This novel is something I feel everyone should read. It is so beautifully written, I felt like I was alongside the sisters the whole time. Their story is one that lives on forever and they are statues in their honor in multiple places. What happened to the sisters and their families is horrible beyond belief. I can’t imagine how many families lost loved ones because of government murders, imprisonments, or as disappearances during this time. Alvarez does an excellent job exploring the intricacies of those moments and the emotions that come along with it.

This is your reminder to value those close to you and reflect on the things you have. In The Time of The Butterflies by Julia Alvarez should be added to the top of your TBR list.

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