The fictional events in the novel take place on the backdrop of the political unrest during the Trujillo Era. She slowly becomes more aware that life under Trujillo has become increasingly dangerous for many, including her own family members who are a part of the movement to kill the dictator. Written by the Dominican-American novelist Julia Alvarez, Before We Were Free is a historical fiction set in the 1960s Dominican Republic. In fact, at the start of the novel, Anita looks to El Jefe’s picture at times when she needs strength. In the beginning, Anita has little knowledge of politics and the underground movement to assassinate Trujillo. Some, like her cousins, the Garcias, flee the country, while others go missing or are arrested. In Before We Were Free, Alvarez explores the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic through the eyes of Anita de la Torre, a 12-year-old girl in 1960 whose family slowly reduces in number during the novel. Anyone who has read Julia Alvarez’s adult novels will enjoy the connections made in Before We Were Free to How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies.
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