Vivas en su jardín

October 9, 2009
: On November 25, 1960, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabel-all activists combating the regime of vicious Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo-were murdered with their driver on the outskirts of Puerto Plata. This memoir by their surviving sister is an important document offering an insider's view of events that have had universal resonance. By a UN proclamation, the anniversary of the Mirabal-killing has for ten years been recognized as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Julia Alvarez's 1994-novel, En el tiempo de las Mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies), and the subsequent Salma Hayek movie-have made-the heroism of the Mirabal sisters-known around the world. Dede's readably conversational and well-documented account begins with the explanation she gives to children who sometimes ask why she, too, was not murdered that day: I stayed alive in order to tell you the story. Dozens of photographs, a time line of Dominican history, and an introduction by Alvarez supplement this testimonial, made up of family stories as well as tales of the courageous resistance to the regime of Trujillo, a dictator for whom the epithet rapist stands as no mere metaphor. The author grounds her conveys-a positive tone in harsh realities, as only a lifelong activist can, -producing a book that-puts between covers the work carried on in her museum dedicated to her sisters' memories. Recommended for libraries and bookstores.-Bruce Jensen, Rohrbach Lib., Kutztown, PA

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