Alive in Their Garden

The lives and legacy of the iconic Mirabalsisters, as told in an intimate memoir by the sister who survivedIn 1960, thethree sisters Patria, Minerva, and Mara Teresa Mirabal, code-named Las Mariposas (The Butterflies)by a Dominican underground resistance movement, were assassinated by order of dictatorRafael Trujillo. Alive in Their Garden is the memoir of Ded Mirabal, their surviving sister, who for decades kepther sisters alive in Dominican memory. This is the first English translation ofDeds story, an intimate account of a tragedy and the international outcry that,for many, heralded the fall of the Trujillo dictatorship.Inher memoir, Ded recollects her sisters lives and personalities, the optimisticbeginning of the 14th of June Revolutionary Movement, and the tragic day of hersisters murders. She details the emotionally charged court proceedings thatfollowed and the impact these events had not only on the Mariposas childrenand family but on the world. Along her journey, Ded grapples with thequestion, Why did they not kill you too? And as time goes on, she comes torecognize her own important role: raising her sisters children alongside herown and working to preserve the memory of a generation. Thisedition features the memoirs original introduction by Julia Alvarez, author ofIn the Time of the Butterflies, a chronology by historian Bernardo Vega,and an afterword by Minervas daughter Minou Tavrez Mirabal. Adding a preface and explanatorynotes that orient readers to the Trujillato in the Dominican Republic, translatorsand editors Ana Martnez and Heather Hennes bring a moving true story andvaluable piece of history to new readers.