the book

About the Author

I was born in New York City during my parents' first and failed stay in the United States. When I was three months old, my parents, both native Dominicans, decided to return to their homeland, preferring the dictatorship of Trujillo to the U.S.A. of the early 50s. Once again, my father got involved in the underground and soon my family was in deep trouble. We left hurriedly in 1960, four months before the founders of that underground, the Mirabal sisters, were brutally murdered by the dictatorship (see In the Time of the Butterflies). -- Julia Alvarez, official website

Frequently described as having grown up in the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez actually spent the first three years of her life in New York City before her parents decided to move back to the D.R. As Alvarez states, her parents chose their homeland despite Trujillo's dictatorship. There, Alvarez grew up surrounded by her extended family, and she quickly gained a reputation as a storyteller. Alvarez's father, however, became involved in the underground resistance to Trujillo's regime, which soon got the family into trouble. They fled the D.R. in 1960--only four months before the Mirabal sisters were murdered.

The night we fled the country, Papi,
you told me we were going to the beach,
hurried me to get dressed along with the others,
while posted at a window, you looked out
at a curfew-darkened Ciudad Trujillo,
speaking in worried whispers to your brothers,
which car to take, who’d be willing to drive it,
what explanation to give should we be discovered . . .
--Julia Alvarez, "Exile"

Alvarez's transition to the U.S. was difficult. In Julia Alvarez: A Critical Companion, Silvio Sirias comments that she "lost almost everything: a homeland, a language, family connections, a way of understanding, and a warmth". As a child, Alvarez was also on the receiving end of racist comments and bullying. Alvarez attended Catholic school, but because she was one of the few Latinx students, her classmates often taunted her with racist slurs. According to Alvarez, this caused her to retreat inward and find solace in literature, which she called "a portable homeland." At thirteen years old, Alvarez's parents sent her to Abbot Academy, a boarding school where she could learn and practice her literary skills. From then on, Alvarez would stay at the boarding school, while returning to the D.R. over summers, in order to "reinforce their identities not only as Dominicans but also as proper young ladies". Literary scholars interested in Alvarez's work believe that her experiences in cultural "hopping" informed her identity and understanding, and therefore, influenced her work.

We stood awhile, marveling at America,
both of us trying hard to feel luckier
han we felt, both of us pointing out
the beach pails, the shovels, the sandcastles
no wave would ever topple, the red and blue boats.
And when we backed away, we saw our reflections
superimposed, big-eyed, dressed too formally
with all due respect as visitors to this country.
--Julia Alvarez, "Exile"

After receiving a Masters degree in 1975, Alvarez spent a few years as a writer-in-residence for the Kentucky Arts Commission, during which she traveled across the United States visiting schools and communities. Later, she taught fiction and poetry as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont. She later took a position at Middlebury College, where she earned tenure in 1991--the same year she published her first book, How the García Girls Lost their Accents. Shortly after publishing her first novel, Alvarez decided to devote more time to writing, although she enjoyed teaching, and therefore stayed on as the writer-in-residence at Middlebury College, where she teaches classes occasionally. Alvarez published her second book, In the Time of the Butterflies, in 1994.

I knew that I wanted to be a writer. But it was the late sixties, early seventies. Afro-American writers were just beginning to gain admission into the canon. Latino literature or writers were unheard of. Writing which focused on the lives of non-white, non mainstream characters was considered of ethnic interest only, the province of sociology. But I kept writing, knowing that this was what was in me to do.
--Julia Alvarez, official website

About the Book

In 1960, a few months after my family fled the dictatorship of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, the three Mirabal sisters were brutally murdered. Founders of the underground, las Mariposas (the Butterflies, their code name) had inspired resistance cells throughout the country. (My father had joined one of these cells, which was cracked by the SIM, the secret police, in the summer of 1960 -- the reason we were forced to flee.) This novel tells the Mirabal story through the lens of fiction. Needless to say, this book is one I felt compelled to write.
--Julia Alvarez, official website

In the Time of the Butterflies was added to The Big Read library. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Artsdesigned to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. They have posted a marvelous Radio Show, Reader's Guideand Teacher's Guide for the book, available on their website: neabigread.org.

In the Time of the Butterflies is a book that helped me understand my country's story and my parent's story., but I think it was a book also that I had to write because it was a debt that I owed.
--Julia Alvarez, NEA podcast

About the Author

About the Book

​Further Reading and Listening

Further Reading and Listening