In the Time of Butterflies

So just a little overview before I say the first thing I want to say- this is a book by Julia Alvarez. It's based on an all-too-true historicxal event, and though it is fictionalized, the essence is true- especially because Ms. Alvarez had a very inside source to tell her the truth, true as it comes. Just a veeeeeeeeeeeery brief summary- it takes place in the Dominican Republic in the 1930s to 1960s, and it's told in alternating narrative by the four Mirabal sisters- Patria, Minerva, Dede, and Maria Teresa, 3 of which died rebelling against the Dominican dictator Trujillo and going to visit their husbands in prison (not a spoiler- Alvarez didn't make it up, it's a historical event). So the first thing I wanted to say was even though she fabricated a lot of their personalities, I really felt like I got to KNOW the Mirabal sisters (Alvarez's representation, at least). Maria Teresa, for instance, told her story through her entries in her journal, which were sometimes every day, and sometimes few and far between. But Alvarez did an unbelievable job of portraying their feelings, of portraying who these girls were- not just superficially, but really their personalities and beliefs.