Our January book selection was Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. The story was historical fiction, about the dictatorship of Raphael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The story is told from the viewpoint of the 12 year old main character, Anita. Anita's family must hide and eventually flee to escape from Trujillo.
Many of us were interested to learn more about the history of the Dominican Republic. Throughout our discussion, Maria Pages was able to relate to the story and compare her childhood experience growing up in Cuba under the dictator of Fidel Castro. We also discussed our favorite characters - Oscar, Chucha, Mama -- but everyone seemed to like Chucha the best. We compared how families lived in the past, and how they presently live. Many of the ladies are interested in watching the movie that was based on the Mirabal sisters referenced in the book, called "In The Time of Butterflies".
-----Yvette
If you are interested in reading about Julia Alvarez and Bill Eichner (her opthalmologist/farmer husband) and their Vermont and Dominican farming, please click on the links below.
http://mcse.middlebury.edu/2013/03/01/spring-speaker-series-lessons-learned-from-cafe-alta-gracia/
