In the Time of the Butterflies

1994 novel by Julia Alvarez In the Time of the Butterflies First editionAuthorJulia AlvarezOriginal titleIn the Time of the ButterfliesTranslatorRolando Costa PicazoLanguageEnglish and Spanish languageGenreHistorical FictionPublisherAlgonquin Books of Chapel HillPublication date1994 (English)2001 (Spanish)Publication placeUnited StatesMedia typePrint (hardback & paperback)Pages344 pp (first edition, hardback) 427 pp (paperback/Spanish)ISBN978-1-56512-038-9 (first edition, hardback)OCLC30319222Dewey Decimal813/.54 20LC ClassPS3551.L845 I5 1994 In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction novel by Julia Alvarez, relating a fictionalized account of the Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The book is written in the first and third person, by and about the Mirabal sisters, who called themselves the "Butterflies," after Minerva Mirabal's code name. First published in 1994, the story was adapted into a feature film in 2001. Characters Minerva: The third Mirabal sister, and certainly the most headstrong. She is focused on law school, and succeeds in completing it as an adult, although Trujillo withholds her law license as reveng