Q:So Ms. Alvarez when you were writing your novel In Time Of The Butterflies why did you decide to have four different points of view instead of just one?

            A:Well the story is about the four Mirabal sisters and their fight for freedom so it only made sense that I include perspectives from all four of them. Also I decided to make it more interesting by making each perspective different in its own way. For example Maria Theresa’s part of the story is always told from her diary.

Q:So when I was reading your book I was increasingly frustrated by your use of names. They kept on changing because of weird titles; there were also references to Spanish. Why did you do that in your book?

            A:Well I am from the Dominican Republic so basically I am showing off my culture. One reason I did that is it makes people from the US know that the setting is foreign. Also when I came to America all American books had American references with no clues for any outsiders. I wanted to employ the same style in my writing.

Q:What would you say your general tone is for the book? And how do you display it?

            A:I would say that my general tone for the book is trying to impart the struggles associated with living under a vicious dictatorship. In general the protagonists express this with their secrecy, fortitude and bravery.

Q:The beginning of the story starts with Dede’ who is a old women telling her story to an American Woman why did you decide to start the story at the end after everything had happened instead of the beginning of the story?

         A:That is an interesting question. First of all I did not want the reader to get any false hopes. Because this is fiction I did not want to lead the reader on that it could have a happy ending. By starting with Dede’ it makes it clear that Patricia, Minerva and Maria Theresa are not going to make it which I think makes the story more interesting and seem less fictional. Another reason I did that was because the beginning is similar to how I started to write the book in the first place.