Review: In the Time of the Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finally got through this book – it is a fictional novel that is based on historical figures, the Dominican Mariposa sisters. The author herself is Dominican and her family left as political refugees. Through research she found her family’s life crossed with the Mirabels (the Mariposas’ family name) and as a novelist, she began to flesh out the characters and lives. Before she knew it she had written the book.

It was well written but I have to drop it a few stars because it needed to be better organized. The story followed 4 sisters and the chapters focused on one sister which would have worked but then the timeline also skipped around within the chapter. Between 4 sisters, their respective husbands, their nicknames, their children and assorted relatives, it got a little confusing. I am actually glad I read the book version instead of the Kindle version because I had to flip around a lot to stay on top of things. It also fleshed out the sisters *so* much that the story dragged on. Sorry, I did enjoy the writing overall and found the history behind it fascinating but think it could have been a little more condensed.

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