This book originally caught my eye because in my senior year of college I took a course on the history of the Dominican Republic and had learned all about Trujillo and his horrible, horrible dictatorship. I also read fiction books similar to this one that combined fact and fiction about the regime and the Trujillo era. Thus, I thought I would read this as a "continuation" of my course.
After reading The Feast of the Goat (a fiction book from my course), my professor at the time had said that almost all of Trujillo fiction books were similar and implied that they were a waste of time to read. I have to admit I partially read this to see if he was right, and I have to say that he was.
This book is about 4 sisters, three of whom were assassinated by Trujillo because they were instrumental in starting a revolution to overthrow the government. Dede was the fourth sister who survived. The other three, Maria Teresa (Mate), Minerva, and Patria were nicknamed Las Mariposas (the butterflies). It gives the tale of their revolution from each of their points of view. It gives a fictional background on how they got involved, what happened while they were imprisoned, and even what happened leading right up to their deaths. It gives you details on their family and their hardships, and it tells a story of Dede's hardships after her sisters' deaths.
The book is divided into four parts. The first three parts have 4 chapters in each, one for each sister. The last part is an epilogue that tells the fictional story of what happened to Dede and the rest of the Maribal family after the deaths of the famous sisters. Each sister has her own way of telling her story which is consistent throughout the book. For example, Maria Teresa's chapters are always laid out in a diary format. The other three, though, are basic prose.
I have to say that this book did suck me in. Even though it was similar to other books I had read about this era, I am still intrigued and baffled by the tales that come out of the Trujillo era, or should I say as a result of the Trujillo era. Even though they are almost always the same--Trujillo sleeps around with young (sometimes underaged) girls, he goes on a killing rampage murdering everyone he thinks will rise up against him, he hires spies to listen in on Dominican citizens in a effort to stop an uprising--they always manage to draw me in. And why wouldn't they?! They have violence, suspense, sex, love-all of the ingredients to make for a juicy novel, even if it is cliche!
Other than being cliche, I thought that the author did a poor job of establishing the setting, especially when it came to Dede. I was never sure really when she was in the "present" or when she was reminiscing. Also the dialogue between the reporter and Dede seemed confusing. I couldn't quite get who was who at first.
I'm not sure I would recommend this book. I mean, I think it was okay, but I don't think I'd have someone go out of their way to read it. The only thing that I can say is that it was an easy enough read that it wouldn't take a lot of time, but for someone who doesn't have much background on the Trujillo era, I'm not sure that they'd be that into it.
Grade: C
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