Before We Were Free

Julia Alvarez walks a fine line between exploring history and cultural exchange in a compelling way ( [b:In the Time of the Butterflies 11206 In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1211592550s/11206.jpg 1408023]) and just being didactic and preachy ([b:Return to Sender 4599006 Return to Sender Julia Alvarez http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320488073s/4599006.jpg 3271108]). Luckily this one was pretty good. Trujillo's dictatorship is a pretty good dramatic background. Also I listened to some of the audiobook, and Julia Alvarez reads it herself, and she sounds kind of like an excited robot. It's really weird and I'm not sure how to explain it. I used part of it in the video I made about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmWKWXfMsrY(This book might only be medium-interesting to someone who isn't already familiar with Dominican history, IDK. But maybe you'll ~learn something~)