Bøker av Julia Alvarez

A novel of Latin American life.

Literary icon Julia Alvarez, the international bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies , returns with an inventive and emotional novel about storytelling that will be an instant classic.Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories , doesn't want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories - literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas, and the cemetery becomes a mysterious sanctuary for their true narratives. Filomena, a local woman hired as the groundskeeper, becomes a sympathetic listener as Alma's characters unspool their secrets. Among them: Bienvenida, the abandoned wife of dictator Rafael Trujillo, consigned to oblivion by history, and Manuel Cruz, a doctor who fought in the Dominican underground and escaped to the United States.The characters defy their author: they talk back to her and talk to one another behind her back, rewriting and revising themselves. The Cemetery of Untold Stories asks: Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried? Finally, Alma finds the meaning she and her characters yearn for in the everlasting vitality of stories.Readers of Isabel Allende's Violeta and Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead will devour Alvarez's extraordinary new novel about beauty and authenticity, and will be reminded that the stories of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end.

Una extraordinaria e ingeniosa novela sobre la narración de historias y lo que pasa con las que nunca contamos, de la querida autora bestseller de En el tiempo de las mariposas y De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento. Cementerio de las historias no contadas es la historia de Alma Cruz, una escritora que se acerca al final de su carrera y de su vida, y no quiere terminar como una colega y mentora suya, quien por mucho tiempo luchó por acabar una novela que nunca terminó y casi la enloquece. Después de la muerte de sus ancianos padres, Alma y sus hermanas heredan pequeños terrenos en la República Dominicana. Alma elige el más grande, que ninguna de las otras quieres por su supuesta ubicación indeseable y su mal estado. Se le ocurre la hermosa idea de convertirlo en un lugar para enterrar las historias que no ha compartido: manuscritos, páginas, borradores, revisiones, personajes y vidas sobre las que había trabajado, incluso por años, pero que nunca consiguió terminar. Ahora desea dejarlas descansar en paz. Alma necesita ayuda con su plan, de modo que Brava, una amiga artista que ?lo capta? (a diferencia de sus hermanas), se le une. El cementerio se convierte en un jardín de esculturas: las lápidas que Brava diseña para cada trama. Filomena, una mujer de la localidad y una de las pocas que gana acceso al cementerio contando sus propios relatos al intercomunicador que abre el portón, se convierte en la celadora, y tanto su historia como la su hermana Perla se vuelven centrales en la narración. Esta es una novela en la que las distintas historias desarrollan tentáculos que se entrelazan con los de otras, se insinúan de manera mutua y crean nuevas historias en el proceso. Las circunstancias de la propia vida de Filomena la convierten en la comprensiva escucha que las historias de Alma siguen necesitando mientras prolongan su inmutable deseo de ser contadas, encontrar un sentido y tener un final. A wonderfully inventive novel about telling stories and what happens to the stories we leave untold, from the beloved and bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.Untold is the story of a writer as she reaches the end of her career and her life. Alma Cruz doesn't want to end up like a fellow author and mentor whose cautionary tale she tells, one who fought so long and hard with a novel she couldn't complete that it threatened her sanity. After the death of Alma's elderly parents, she and her sisters each inherit small plots of land in the Dominican Republic. Alma chooses the biggest one, which none of the others want because of its supposedly undesirable location and its state of dishevelment. She has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories, the manuscripts and pages, drafts, revisions?the characters and lives she worked on, sometimes for years, but could never get quite right. To let them rest in peace. Alma needs help with her plan, so Brava, an artist friend who "gets it" (unlike Alma's perplexed sisters), jumps on board?the cemetery becomes a sculpture garden, Brava's work the custom markers for each plot. Filomena, a local and one of the few who gains entry to the cemetery by telling her own stories to an intercom that opens the gate, is soon the caretaker, and her story and the story of her sister Perla become central to the narrative. This is a novel in which stories develop tentacles that entwine other stories, insinuating themselves one to the other, and making new stories in the process.

A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020 A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post *Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. magazine * The Millions * Huffington Post * PopSugar * The Lily * Goodreads * Library Journal * LitHub * Electric Literature The first adult novel in almost fifteen years by the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents “A stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Poet X Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words.Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?

The Dominican legend of the ciguapas, creatures who lived in underwater caves and whose feet were on backward so that humans couldn''t follow their footprints, is reinvented by renowned author Julia Alvarez. Although the ciguapas fear humans, Guapa, a bold and brave ciguapa, can''t help but be curious--especially about a boy she sees on the nights when she goes on the land to hunt for food. When she gets too close to his family and is discovered, she learns that some humans are kind. Even though she escapes unharmed and promises never to get too close to a human again, Guapa still sneaks over to the boy''s house some evenings, where she finds a warm pastelito in the pocket of his jacket on the clothesline.

A collectible hardcover edition of Julia Alvarez''s modern Latinx classic about four sisters known as Las Mariposas, or the Butterflies, who fought to liberate the Dominican Republic from Rafael Trujillo''s dictatorship, featuring a new foreword by Maxine Hong KingstonA Penguin Vitae EditionIt is November 25, 1960, and three sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of the dictatorship of General Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas--the Butterflies. In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters--Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé--speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from secret crushes to gunrunning, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s storytelling, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage, love, and the human cost of political oppression.Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as "Penguin of one''s life"—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.

A collectible hardcover thirtieth-anniversary edition of Julia Alvarez''s modern Latinx classic that gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures, featuring a new foreword by New York Times bestselling, National Book Award–winning novelist Elizabeth AcevedoA Penguin Vitae EditionThe García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after the discovery of their father''s role in an attempt to overthrow the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming United States, their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try to find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. In Julia Alvarez''s beloved first novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, the sisters tell their stories about being at home—and not at home—in America.Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as "Penguin of one''s life"—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.

En un isla no muy lejana, en una época no muy distante, había una tribu de criaturas llamadas ciguapas. Vivían en frescas cuevas azules en el fondo del mar y salían a la tierra solamente de noche en busca de alimentos. Afortunadamente, tenían un secreto que las protegía de los seres humanos: tenían los pies al revés, así nadie podía seguirles las huellas. Pero una vez, casi descubren su secreto . . . La galardonado escritora Julia Alvarez teje un cuento mágico sobre una valiente y aguerrida ciguapa llamada Guapa, cuya curiosidad y gusto por los mangos y los pastelitos-casi le cuesta la libertad a su tribu. Complementado por las exquisitas ilustraciones de Fabian Negrin, este cautivador relato, basado en una leyenda dominicana, permanecerá en el recuerdo del lector.

Already a Butterfly is a gentle picture book tale about self-soothing practices and self-confidence beliefs.With so much to do in so little time, Mari is constantly on the move, flitting from flower to flower, practicing her camouflage poses, and planning for migration. SheΓÇÖs the busiest butterfly around. But does being productive mean she is happy? Mari couldnΓÇÖt say. The only way she feels like a butterfly is by acting like one. Little does Mari know, the secret to feeling like herself is simply to focus her breath, find her quiet place, and follow her instincts. With the guidance of a thoughtful flower bud, Mari soon learns to meditate and appreciate that she was a butterfly all along.Acclaimed author Julia Alvarez extolls the importance of mindfulness, reflection, and self-care for young children in this gratifying picture book, stunningly illustrated by award-winning artist Ra├║l Col├│n. Christy Ottaviano Books

';Julia Alvarez has suitcases full of history (public and private), trunks full of insights into what it means to be a Latina in the United States, bags full of literary wisdom.' Los Angeles Times From the internationally acclaimed author of the bestselling novels In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garca Girls Lost Their Accents comes a rich and revealing work of nonfiction capturing the life and mind of an artist as she knits together the dual themes of coming to America and becoming a writer. The twenty-four confessional, evocative essays that make up Something to Declare are divided into two parts. ';Customs' includes Alvarez's memories of her family's life in the Dominican Republic, fleeing from Trujillo's dictatorship, and arriving in America when she was ten years old. She examines the effects of exile--surviving the shock of New York City life; yearning to fit in; training her tongue (and her mind) to speak English; and watching the Miss America pageant for clues about American-style beauty. The second half, ';Declarations,' celebrates her passion for words and the writing life. She lets us watch as she struggles with her art--searching for a subject for her next novel, confronting her characters, facing her family's anger when she invades their privacy, reflecting on the writers who influenced her, and continually honing her craft. The winner of the National Medal of Arts for her extraordinary storytelling, Julia Alvarez here offers essays that are an inspiring gift to readers and writers everywhere.';This beautiful collection of essays . . . traces a process of personal reconciliation with insight, humor, and quiet power.' San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle ';Reading Julia Alvarez's new collection of essays is like curling up with a glass of wine in one hand and the phone in the other, listening to a bighearted, wisecracking friend share the hard-earned wisdom about family, identity, and the art of writing.' People

A new paperback edition of Julia Alvarez's beloved Pura Belpré winner about life in Trujillo's Dominican Republic. "Diary entries written by a child while in hiding will remind readers of Anne Frank's story." -SLJ Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her twelfth birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have immigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government's secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition to Trujillo's iron-fisted rule. Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind. From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl's struggle to be free. A Miami Herald Best Book of the Year Winner of the Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Winner of the Pura Belpré AwardAn ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young AdultsAn ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book"A stirring work of art." -Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "A realistic and compelling account of a girl growing up too quickly while coming to terms with the cost of freedom." -The Horn Book, Starred Review "Diary entries written by the child while in hiding will remind readers of Anne Frank's story. . . . Readers will bite their nails as the story moves to its inexorable conclusion." -SLJ "Alvarez's story will spark intense discussion about politics and family." -Booklist