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    En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)
    En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)
    En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)
    Audiobook12 hours

    En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)

    Written by Julia Alvarez

    Narrated by Rosie Berrido

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ellas eran las cuatro hermanas Mirabal-simbolos de una esperanza desafiante en un pais ensombrecido por la dictadura y la desesperacion. Sacrificaron sus vidas, seguras, y confortables, en nombre de la libertad. Ellas eran "las Mariposas," y en esta novela extraordinaria, Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, y Dede nos cuentan, a traves de las decadas, sus propias historias. Desde anecdotas sobre lazos para el pelo y secretos enamoramientos al contrabando de armas y las torturas en la carcel. Con ellas aprendemos los horrores cotidianos de la vida bajo el dictador dominicano Trujillo. A traves del arte y la magia de la aclamada e imaginativa novelista Julia Alvarez, la dramatica y vibrante vida de estas martirizadas mariposas toma forma en una historia calida, brillante y desgarradora en la que se nos muestra el incalculable coste humano derivado de la opresion politica.
    LanguageEspañol
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 30, 2007
    ISBN9781428197848
    En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)
    Author

    Julia Alvarez

    Born in New York City in 1950, Julia Alvarez’s parents took her back to their native country, the Dominican Republic, shortly after her birth. Ten years later, the family was forced to flee to the US because of her father’s involvement in a plot to overthrow the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez has written many bestselling novels including: How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, ¡Yo!, In the Name of Salomé, and Afterlife. She has also written collections of poems, non-fiction, and numerous books for young readers. The Cemetery of Untold Stories is her most recent novel. Her awards and recognitions include the Pura Belpré and Américas Awards for her books for young readers, the Hispanic Heritage Award, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award. In 2013, she received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.

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    Reviews for En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      The "Butterflies is about four very strong and couragous sisters who lived during the oppressive years of Truijillo in the Dominican Republic. These brave women strive to better the lives of their family and countrymen through guerilla-like strategies. I could not help thinking that we in the US have no idea what it is to live under such a horrible regime and how we take our free lifestyles for granted. I thought this book was well-written and gave the reader a feel for the sacrifice of fighting for freedom while trying to hold together a family. I would highly recommend this book.
    • 3/5
      I definitely enjoyed this book. Julia Alvarez did a good job of adapting this amazing true story. The movie version (with Salma Hayek and Marc Anthony) is also good.
    • 3/5
      On November 25, 1960 three sisters were found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the Dominican Republic. They were Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria Maribel- leaders in the revolt against the cruel dictator, General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They were more popularly known to the citizens of the Dominican Republic as “The Butterflies.” Their deaths were covered up by the government as an accident – but the truth is, they were murdered. One sister, Dede, survived to tell their story…but Julia Alvarez gives the dead women voice in her novel. Narrated in alternating chapters by each woman and beginning in the early 1940s, the book brings the reader up to the day of the murders.There are no surprises in this novel. Right from the beginning, we know how the story ends. Dede begins the narration in 1994 as she is interviewed by a journalist, and she takes the reader back to the beginning, nearly two decades before the murders. Dede is suffering from survivor’s guilt…she needs to tell her story…and really, the book is as much about this lone surviving sister as it is about the actual historical events.Trujillo’s crimes against his people are revealed through the voices of Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria Maribel. Minerva was the most feisty and politically motivated of the three, and it was her voice which I thought Alvarez did a good job capturing. Even still, I found it hard to fully empathize with any of the characters who felt mostly flat to me.Prior to reading this book, I had no knowledge of what happened in the Dominican Republic in the 1940s through the 1960s…and I did learn quite a bit. But, because of the structure of the novel, there was very little tension developed. We know the end result. We know Trujillo is a monster. We wait for Alvarez to amp up the tension, to tell us something new or illuminating. But it does not happen. Despite Alvarez’s beautiful writing, and some lovely passages, In the Time of the Butterflies never felt compelling to me.Readers who wish to learn more about the history of the Domincan Republic may find this historical novel interesting. But for me, it was just a so-so read.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful novel about the Mirabal sisters, who were brutally murdered by the waning Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. It is told in chapters narrated in the very different voices of the four sisters: Dedé who survives, Patria the oldest and most Christian, Minerva the activist revolutionary from a young age, and Maria Teresa the baby of the family whose chapters are her diary.It is also one of the great novels of a semi-totalitarian government and what it means for a group of young women growing up outside the capital. It makes for an interesting pairing with Mario Vargas Llosa's The Feast of the Goat, which covers much of the same period, has some of the same events, but does it all from a different perspective. The difference is that In the Time of the Butterflies is much more subtle. It has the same torture, de facto child rape by Trujillo and other horrors, but all of it is more understated and seen through the eyes of the girls in the story. That all makes the one episode where torture is more directly described that much more powerful.
    • 2/5
      In the Time of the Butterflies is a novel based on the lives of the Mirabal sisters during the dictatorship of Trujillo (30's to 60's), so it basically is one of those obligatory books to read in high school here. I don't really like Julia Álvarez's style, so I wasn't too fond of the book. I feel it was way too romanticized when compared to the transcendence of the real events. But then again it's a novel, not a biography.
    • 5/5
      I read this in high school, when I was excited by the name- I was already starting to associate with butterflies. I was also very excited to find bits of Spanish and my favorite Spanish word- mariposa. This story is told by the only one who wasn't really a part- the surviving sister, but we see intimately into each sister's life. I was enthralled by them, though the ending saddened me even though I think we knew what would happen from the beginning.
    • 5/5
      Once four sisters - Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Mate - lived in the Dominican Republic. They grew up during the rule of Trujillo, a ruthless dictator. Each of them became involved with revolutionaries seeking to end his reign. At the beginning of their story, we meet the living sister, Dede, and soon learn that the other three have been murdered by Trujillo. The narration, however, is made up of all four sisters' points of view, to show their lives, their motivations, and especially their hearts.This is an incredible piece of historical fiction that absolutely floored me. As I got towards the end, I didn't want to finish the story - I had grown to care so much about the four women that I didn't want them to be dead. Alvarez, whose family fled to the United States to escape Trujillo's rule when she was ten, has crafted a truly powerful story that will stay with me for a long time.
    • 4/5
      Fine, moving account of courage against tyranny. Very human.
    • 4/5
      This is a wonderful novel. Although it is a fictionalized account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters during Trujillo's rule, and although the ideology that motivated the sisters is not emphasized, the novel succeeds in bringing to life the passion the sisters felt for their cause, the strength that they had, and the struggles they must have gone through in order to rid their country of a brutal dictatorship.
    • 4/5
      The sad inside story of life under Trujillo in the Dominican Republic--a fictional account of a real-life family who dared stand up to a vicious dictator.
    • 3/5
      I found the quadruple narrative distracting and the frame story set in the present far too weak and annoying. Trying to cover so much time through so many different narrators was highly ambitions. Sometimes it worked but often it didn't. Yet the story was mesmorizing and I never stopped reading.
    • 5/5
      “In the Time of the Butterflies” is historical fiction, based on the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic (next door neighbor of Haiti; both share the island of Hispaniola). The four Mirabal sisters opposed the dictatorship of Trujillo; and because of that, they were imprisoned, and raped and tortured while in prison. Eventually (after being released) three of the sisters were murdered; all on the same day: November 25, 1960. November 25th is now observed as the International Day Against Violence Towards Women.Alvarez is Dominican herself; her family became exiled, in New York City, because her father was part of that same underground movement that the Mirabal sisters were involved in. The Mirabals were murdered just a few months after Alvarez’s family escaped. Long fascinated by their story, Alvarez chose her second novel to be about the Mirabal sisters.Alvarez introduces us first to the present-day (1994) Dede Mirabal, (who apparently is still living as I write this post), the sole survivor because she didn’t accompany her sisters on the trip that led to their deaths. A reporter is asking Dede about her sisters. Therefore, we read about present-day Dede and past-day Dede throughout this book. Not only that, each of Dede’s sisters (Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa also known as “Mate”) also narrates their own point of views in differing chapters. I’m not describing this very well; it’s not as confusing as I’m making it sound. The sisters relate their childhood experiences under the Dominican Republic dictator Trujillo, how they joined the underground movement against Trujillo, and their harrowing experiences after discovery and under imprisonment. There is also their thoughts on men, who they fall in love with and marry. This book is wonderfully written. It starts becoming especially sad when the sisters endure their punishments for opposing Trujillo. Yet, even after release from prison, they still had the courage to continue to fight on.
    • 4/5
      I found this fictionalized account of the Maribal sisters to be a very good read. Does this mean I enjoyed it completely? Not exactly. The first two parts of this novel were rather tedious, and I had a hard time getting into them. The last part however, was thrilling as well as informative. Thats because its when the girls really got into the movement. This book was touching and inspiring. It was sad to see the high points in the girls' lives, as I knew how it was going to end. This was a good read, which I do recommend. Long live the butterflies.
    • 3/5
      This is one of the first book club selections. It was a somewhat "chick book", but I liked it.
    • 4/5
      Based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters, In The Time of The Butterflies is the story of four women who were part of the movement to overthrow Trujillo's oppressive and cruel dictatorship of the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.Alvararez tell the story from the perspectives of all four sisters. Each woman's life story is woven into the fabric of this novel to reveal what it was like to live, love, and raise children under a politically oppressive dictator.I found the story very gripping. We have all heard the stories of major revolutionaries, people who singlemindedly strive for change, but what we don't hear are the stories of the people who participate on a smaller scale to make the revolution possible. I feel that Alvarez sheds light on what it was like for people who cared for the revolution, but cared for other things as well...parents, spouses, children, siblings, and homes. As well written and compelling as the story was, I felt a lack of connection with the characters. I felt that they made choices that were sometimes unnecessarily reckless, like keeping a diary which names names and antagonizing a political dictator publicly. Perhaps it is my own inability to truly understand what it would be like to live in a country ruled by a monster, but whatever the reason I just didn't relate to the characters in the way I wanted.All in all it is a book I would recommend reading. It's a fascinating look into a revolution from the eyes of four very different people who were at first bonded by their sisterhood, then bonded by their cause, and ultimately by their murders.
    • 5/5
      This was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Intriguing story and amazing writing.
    • 5/5
      Julia Alvarez is one of those authors who hits and misses for me. I was unimpressed with Garcia Girls and Yo, but this book, based on real characters and events, is one of my very favorite pieces of fiction. I've read it three times and each time, like all good literature, it reveals more. Alvarez has here told the story of nearly every Latin American country in the 1980s, set against a backdrop of family love, romance, and geography in words that just drip slowly into the reader's consciousness. It's her best.
    • 5/5
      This historical novel tells the story of the Mirabal sisters. They lived in the Dominican Republic during the rule of the dictator Trujillo. At the beginning of the book we know that 3 of the sisters were killed in 1960 for opposing the dictatorship and that the fourth sister, Dedé survived. We hear the story from each of their points-of-view as they grow up and become the famous women whose assassinations resonated throughout the world. The book hit me at a very visceral level. By the end of the novel I felt close to the sisters and even though I knew from the start how it would end, losing them was still painful. Patria, the eldest sister, had a gentle heart and incredible courage. María Teresa, the youngest, was sweet and devoted. Minerva was incredibly headstrong and brave and it was her story that hit me the hardest. She blazed the path to the revolution for her sisters and I wonder if she ever felt responsible for their safety. I loved how the book unfolds each sister’s story separately. Each one is interwoven with the others, but they all came to join the revolution in very different ways; for political reasons, for love or because they want to be a protective mother to the revolutionaries. Each one has such a beautiful voice and you grow to feel for each of them separately. You share their frustrations with their sisters, and then when you read the next sister’s section you love that one’s story just as much. I was surprised that I identified with different sisters at different points in their lives. I had very little in common with some of them, but it was written in such an intimate way that you felt as though you were there, living their passion and frustration and joy right alongside them. Trujillo regime is not one we hear about very often, but it was horrific. He ruled for 30 years and managed to kill more than 50,000 people during that time. He was an advocate of genetic cleansing and killing black people who make up a huge part of the population in the in Dominican Republic. It reminded me a bit of Hitler’s reign in Germany. People had to say "Viva Trujillo," just like Europeans had to say "Heil Hitler" to show their loyalty and support. It reminded me that if no one stands up against tyrants the world becomes a dark place. It’s easy to say the sisters should have sat back and done nothing, but in the end their deaths brought more worldwide attention to what was happening and who knows how many lives were saved.BOTTOM LINE: It’s difficult for a book to balance a history lesson and an emotional story arch, especially when it’s being told from multiple points of view. I felt like this book did all of those things so well. It’s an important subject matter to be aware of and I loved it. “How people romanticized other people’s terror.” 
    • 4/5
      This book details the lives of the Mirabal sisters, Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa and Dede, who lived during the time that Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic. They were opposed to the regime, but, according to the book, reluctantly in the cases of Maria Teresa and Patria. The book depicts what family life was like under an extreme dictatorship. The first three sisters were eventually killed by Trujillo's henchmen in 1960, just a few months before Turjillo himself was assassinated.I listened to the audio version, but did not catch the names of the narrators. The book was told from the first person perspective of each sister in turn, and each one had a different narrator. All the narrators did a fantastic job with their part.The book could get a bit melodramatic at times, but all in all, it was a very insightful work.
    • 4/5
      I read this book for a RL book group. It is the second book I had read about the Dominican Republic and the Trujillo dictatorship.This book is much more personal and smaller in scope than the first book The Feast of the Goat. It concentrates on one family, the Mirabals. They have 4 daughters and through their beliefs, and the acquaintances they make, some of whom they marry, they end up in opposition to the regime. These were real people, and they were murdered by the regime. They became heroes and legends, the author tries to tell the story focusing on their humanity and every day lives rather than their status as martyrs. This is a work of fiction, but is done so well, that the story seems real and plausible. They were active towards the end of the dictatorship, when it was most vulnerable. They caught the fancy of the country and were more dangerous as symbols than perhaps as actual actors. In this book because the focus is almost completely on the family, its hard to tell what their impact on the larger society was. Reading The Feast of the Goat with its wider perspective, and which talks about the Mirabal sisters, makes it clearer why they were killed. The writing is smooth, and it flows well. The characters are interesting, and people you care about. Very good, although wrenching read.
    • 5/5
      I was recently required to read this book to see if it would be a good fit in high school curriculum, and honestly I kept putting it off, and putting it off, because it looked boring and depressing. I guess I just learned that I can’t judge a book by its BACK cover and synopsis…The book was amazing! Once I actually opened the pages and began reading, I became a part of the book, interested in all the sisters and their adventures, mainly against the tyrannical regime of Trujillo in the Dominican. I stayed up late reading as I just couldn’t put it down. Although I knew the ending from reading that back cover of the book, it didn’t lessen my enthusiasm, even though I knew it would end badly. This book is a great read, and explores a time and culture most high school students, and even adults, never hear about, BUT they should! I highly recommend this book, especially if you are interested in history. While this book is fictional, it is based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters who fought for their rights and beliefs against a tyrannical dictatorship, and paid the highest price for what they believed was right.
    • 4/5
      An historical novel about the Mirabal sisters (Las Mariposas) who were murdered in 1960 in the Dominican Republic for their "subversive" activities against Rafael Trujillo, the dictator from 1930-1961. I am always leery of historical novels: I have enough interest in history to want to be sure of my facts, and frequently an historical novel will take liberties. From what I have read after finishing this book (I had to find the real history first), I believe the only reason this is a novel is because it takes a first person account of the years leading up the sisters' deaths. A fascinating, well-researched, touching, sad but ultimately heroic story of a family that stood up for what they believed in.
    • 4/5
      Each daughter had a welcoming persona. I felt for them as I breathed in the culture, the terror of the dictatorship.
    • 4/5
      In 1960, Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa Mirabel were brutally murdered because of their involvement in the underground movement to depose Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. The Mirabel sisters, codenamed “Las Mariposas” (the butterflies), were instrumental in founding the underground movement and inspiring the formation of resistance cells throughout the country. The girls and their husbands and families were symbols of freedom, drawn into the resistance slowly and almost by chance as the cruelty of Trujillo’s regime began to personally impact their lives.“In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez tells the true story of the brave Butterflies through the lens of fiction, highlighting their inspiring bravery in the face of cruel despotism. Written with quiet lyricism, Alvarez’s novel becomes a universal story of history, politics, freedom, and human courage.
    • 4/5
      This story weaves the narrations of four sisters from the Dominican Republic in the 1950's and 1960's. This historical piece of fiction was inspired by the Mirabel sisters who opposed their tyrannical government and paid the ultimate price. This story touches upon issues of culture, politics, history, and gender. There is some Spanish infused into the text, which can be challenging. There are also good literary devices used.
    • 5/5
      I adored this book. I went into it with a certain amount of reservation, as I had read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents not that long ago and it hadn't stood out for me. This book, however, was amazing. The characters were dead on, Minerva, Patria, Dede, and Mate were like my family. I highly reccomend this book, if for nothing else than the powerful history lesson.
    • 4/5
      I can’t rate this book with 5 stars because its fiction/non-fiction format drove me crazy. I’d rather have had a non-fiction book about the Mirabal sisters. Given that there is one surviving sister I’d hope that wasn’t an impossible feat. If it really was, however, then I’d rather this historical fiction story have had entirely fictional characters as the main characters. The pertinent real people could have taken on more minor roles in the story, and then I wouldn’t have minded their fictionalization. But this book really grabbed me. I ended up having actual nightmares because of and relating to this book. I thought the author did a tremendous job of giving an accurate feeling for what it might feel like to live under a dictatorship regime, and of being public, oppositional figures in such a situation. I enjoyed the writing style much more than I’d expected. I’d like to read other books by this author. I’ve heard her speak a couple times, and I’ve always come away favorably impressed.I loved the humor in the book. I learned a lot about the time and place. I enjoyed the different voices, although I had to occasionally look back to see who was narrating.I really enjoyed the characters Maria Teresa, and Minerva, but Patria less so. Maria Teresa struck me as somewhat shallow but very funny, Minerva as passionate and generous, and at times infuriating. Dede felt like a bit of a blur for much of the book; she’s the one who survived and who was available for providing some factual content. Perhaps it was her privacy that needed to be protected. There weren’t many, but I enjoyed the little drawings in the story; some were like maps, though of small places.My paperback copy had fascinating extras. The author talks a bit about herself; she was a refuge from Trujillo’s regime because of her father’s activism. I feel her passion coming through in her storytelling. There are discussion questions. And she explains about her choice to write this as a historical fiction novel. I’d love to know how all the children and grandchildren and other descendents are doing now. I did get from this material how hard it must be to be a survivor of those who were and are martyred and revered. And I’d like to read more about this period in this place. I’m embarrassed that I knew nothing of it, even though I was alive (albeit young) during these atrocities. I’m always astounded and perturbed to read about horrific events that took or are taking place during my lifetime. I always think about what I was doing at the time, and how different my life was, and how ignorant I was.I read this for my real world book club, and I finished it late, a first for me, but not because I wasn’t enjoying my reading experience.