In the Time of the Butterflies

Alvarez, who left the Dominican Republic as a child, builds the novel around real people. The Mirabal sisters are remembered in their country as heroines, and the anniversary of the day three of them were killed in 1960 is now observed by the United Nations as a day for ending violence against women. The novel opens in 1994, with Dedé, the surviving sister, receiving a visitor who wants to hear their story, and then moves back in time.

The chapters alternate between the sisters' voices. Minerva, bold and political, is the first to see the dictatorship clearly and to risk her future by standing up to Trujillo. María Teresa, the youngest, tells her part through a lively diary that grows darker as she is drawn into danger. Patria, the eldest, is a devoted mother whose turning point comes when she sees violence against young rebels. Dedé, the cautious one, stays out of the movement and later carries the burden of memory. Prison, fear and loss are part of the story, but Alvarez gives each sister warmth, humor and an individual voice.

Powerful and humane. About 352 pages in the Algonquin paperback, with a postscript by the author.