In the Time of the ButterfliesIt is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—“The Butterflies.” In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters—Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé—speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human cost of political oppression. |
Contents
Dedé 1994 and circa 1943 | 3 |
Minerva 1938 1941 1944 | 11 |
Dedé 1994 and 1948 | 63 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
already arms asked baby bedroom began cacao called campesinos capital crying dark Dede's Dinorah door dress El Cibao El Jefe Elsa eyes face father feel Fela felt front girls give going gringos guards guayabera hair hand head hear heard heart inside Jarabacoa Jefe Jefe's keep knew laughed Leandro Lina Lío looked Mamá Dedé Mama's Manolo María Teresa Mate Minerva says Minou Mirabal Mirabal sisters Monte Cristi morning mother Nelson night nodded Noris Ojo de Agua Padre de Jesús Papá Papa's Patria Mercedes Pedrito Peña pretty prison Puerto Plata quinceañera reminded Río San Juan road Rufino Salcedo SALCEDO PROVINCE sancocho Santicló Sinita sisters smile Sor Asunción started stop sure talk tell things thought Tío told Trujillo turned Virgencita voice volleyball waiting walked woman worry young