January 10

In the Time of the Butterflies

By Julia Alvarez

This novel is an imagined biography, based on extensive research, of three sisters who were assassinated by thugs working for the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ("El Jefe") back in 1960.

The three sisters, Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa, known as "The Butterflies", were opponents of the regime of the cruel dictator.  They are raised in a loving home and stayed close, even as they married and left their parents' home.  All were mothers of young children.  Patria had earned a law degree, although as a woman, was not permitted to practice.  Each tells her story as a first hand account, starting from their early teenage years.  Maria Teresa's account is in the form of her diary.  We hear of their family life, school years, and the ever more brutal realities of life under Trujillo.  On November 25, 1960, the three sisters were returning, with their driver who was also killed, from a visit to their husbands, all of whom were serving prison terms for supposed crimes against Trujillo's regime.  The three were murdered, along with their driver, in a plot that was meant to look like an accident.  But by that time, everyone knew of the Butterflies and their work, and their deaths may have been the last straw among the crimes that in turn provoked the assassination of the cruel dictator the following year.  

This book reimagines the Butterflies' lives and sheds human light on a tragic time by creating a personal connection with the sisters.  Dede, a fourth sister, was not in the car at the time of the assassination, and we hear her perspective, too, including her story of loss.  This book shares an important message, beautifully told.