The lives and legacy of the iconic Mirabal
sisters, as told in an intimate memoir by the sister who survived
“This is the book I wish I’d had on hand as I was writing In the Time of the Butterflies.”—From the introduction by Julia Alvarez
In 1960, the
three sisters Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, code-named “Las Mariposas” (The Butterflies)
by a Dominican underground resistance movement, were assassinated by order of dictator
Rafael Trujillo. Alive in Their Garden is the memoir of Dedé Mirabal, their surviving sister, who for decades kept
her sisters alive in Dominican memory. This is the first English translation of
Dedé’s story, an intimate account of a tragedy and the international outcry that,
for many, heralded the fall of the Trujillo dictatorship.
In
her memoir, Dedé recollects her sisters’ lives and personalities, the optimistic
beginning of the 14th of June Revolutionary Movement, and the tragic day of her
sisters’ murders. She details the emotionally charged court proceedings that
followed and the impact these events had not only on the Mariposas’ children
and family, but on the world. Along her journey, Dedé grapples with the
question, “Why did they not kill you too?” And as time goes on, she comes to
recognize her own important role: raising her sisters’ children alongside her
own and working to preserve the memory of a generation.
This
edition features the memoir’s original introduction by Julia Alvarez, author of
In the Time of the Butterflies, a chronology by historian Bernardo Vega,
and an afterword by Minerva’s daughter Minou Tavárez Mirabal. Adding a preface and explanatory
notes that orient readers to the Trujillato in the Dominican Republic, translators
and editors Ana Martínez and Heather Hennes bring a moving true story and
valuable piece of history to new readers.
