#account rendered

[rwpohl]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg-kLUkh-54

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmi60Bd4jSs

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[rwpohl]

... ? ... yes, a large cameo brooche.

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[acordagaivota-blog]

Presses de la Cité 63 _ 1951 por Uilke Via Flickr: 1951; Réglement de Comptes [Account Rendered] by Peter Cheyney. Cover art by Rognan

[books-and-looks-blog]

In the Time of the Butterflies- An account rendered

Las Mariposas, or when beauty became political

Julia Alverez's 1994 historical novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, captures both the sweeping events of a political revolution and the small moments that bind sisters together. Set in the Dominican Republic In the 1940s through the 1990s, it tells the story of the four Mirabal sisters, three of whom were brutally murdered because of their revolutionary activity against the Trujillo dictatorship.

The book is written in an intimate first person, switching from sister to sister, and exploring their stories in depth. Alvarez is able to convey each sister's individual personality and her relationship to the others through this approach. The reader becomes closely acquainted with Minerva Mirabal's struggle to behave as the symbol of revolution her countrymen believe her to be, Patria's moments of intense faith and equally intense doubt, María Teresa's shaky coming-of-age during a period of political instability, and Dedé's guilt and relief at being the only sister left alive. The ability to create a signal emotionally and psycologically complex character is a sign of artistry on the part of an author and doing so four times over shows true mastery.

I find myself deeply connected to this book because of its compelling and realistic porayal of the complex nature of sibling relationships and its grappeling with the question of how beautiful, well-to-do women were willing to die for a political cause.

Perhaps one of the most interesting, yet least explored by Alvarez, aspects of the Mirabal sisters is the role that their beauty played in their political lives. Minerva's revolutionary activity became truly earnest after rejecting a sexual advance from Trujillo. The nation's shock at the murder of three beautiful women galvanized Dominicans against the dictator and partially led to his own assassination. A sustained contemplation of the power of female beauty, for both good and ill, would have added a fascinating element to this story. The Mirabal sisters were not only revolutionaries, but also glamorous women who purchased handbags on their last day alive. The relationship of the sisters to their own beauty and beauty's infulence in the political realm is largely ignored by Alvarez.

Despite glossing over the sisters' appearances, Alverez manages to make these iconic women wholly relatable. The inner beauty of the courageous Mirabal sisters permeates every elegant word of Alverez's gorgeous story. This book is touching, thought- provoking and well-worth reading.