Background and Beginning

            First of all, welcome!  Over the next weeks, this blog will examine and discuss Julia Alvarez’s timeless In the Time of the Butterflies. 

Although I don’t yet know too much about the novel, several people have recommended In the Time of the Butterflies to me in the past, and I expect it to be thought provoking and extremely worthwhile.  Originally published in 1994, it has received rave reviews and was nominated for the 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award. 

            The back cover reveals that the story details the lives of the Mirabal sisters Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede, to whom the novel is also dedicated.  The four Dominican women became known as “Las Mariposas,” or “The Butterflies,” in their opposition of dictator Rafael Trujillo, leader of the country from 1930 until his assassination in 1961.  The famous quartet reveals the true expense of political oppression as they fight to gain liberty and freedoms for the people of the Dominican Republic.  The sisters’ nickname itself may foreshadow a happy ending or lasting change provoked or inspired by their will, as butterflies are often symbolic of glory, passion, and possibilities.  The tremendous popularity of In the Time of the Butterflies brought it to the big screen in 2001 when Mariano Barroso directed the movie version starring Selma Hayek.

            Author Julia Alvarez was raised in the Dominican Republic until she was ten years old, when her own family was forced to move to the United States after getting into trouble with the dictatorship.  She obviously writes of issues that are personal to her and quite literally close to home.  Other novels she has written include bestselling How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Name of Salome.

            As far as the reading schedule, I plan to finish the book by March 19^th  at the latest, although I will aim to and probably will finish before that date.  The first eighty-three pages will be read before February 26^th, the next eighty-five pages (up to page 168) will be read by March 5^th, the next eighty-eight (up to page 256) will be read by March 12^th, and the final sixty-five pages will be read by March 19^th.  Can’t wait to start!