In the Time of the Butterflies

At the library where I work we are encouraged to submit "staff picks" book reviews. While trying to summarize a book I was re-reading, I began to draw the face of Dede, the only sister who survives in the novel by Julia Alvarez "In the Time of the Butterflies."  I didn't even mean to make her expression so pensive and sad, but the book was making me feel that way. So maybe I have another kind of book review, made with drawings that express a book so you want to read it.

Dede is based on a real person, and the novel tells a true story. Dede lives in Santo Domingo during the dictatorial rule of Rafael Trujillo. Her sisters Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa  become resistance fighters (and martyrs) known as "The Butterflies" (Las Mariposas) at the hands of the repressive regime. Dede survives to tell the story. But in this book each sister has her say.
I drew Dede, and you can see how sad she is.
On December 17, 1999, the UN General Assembly made November 25 (the anniversary of the day of the murder of the Mirabal sisters) the date for an International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to honor the sisters.
This is a photo of the real sisters. Dede is not in this picture: Here are Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa.


Hollywood made a film IN 2001 from the book starring Salma Hayek, Edward Olmos and Marc Anthony among others. A spanish-language film based on the book is just being released entitled "Trópico de Sangre. "