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Julia Alvarez Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Julia Alvarez
Brandon Cruz González/EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO

Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez Biography

Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960, at the age of ten. She is the author of numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, including her beloved first novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, and In the Time of the Butterflies, which was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its Big Read program. She was the subject of an American Masters documentary, Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined, on PBS and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. She lives in Vermont.

Julia Alvarez's website

This bio was last updated on 03/24/2026. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Interview

Living the Afterlife: An Essay by Julia Alvarez

I've always liked to be prepared: I like to know what to expect, what to pack, who will be at my surprise party. Even as a kid, I wanted a plan, and being a middle sister suited me just fine. Someone was always ahead of me, reporting back on what was to come. When I learned from my older sister about boys and sex, she cautioned that I couldn't think about it because if I did and died right then, I'd go straight to hell. That was terrible news. But I had to think about it, have a plan going forward. My American friend Elizabeth offered to help. We spent an afternoon kissing and petting in a part of the garden Papi had planted, which he called El Paraiso—just practicing, you know.

When the Girl Scouts came to the Dominican Republic, my older sister joined. A few months later, an American mom started a Brownie troop for us younger girls. At our first gathering, the mom explained we were going on a treasure hunt. We were to work together as a team: she'd give us the first clue to puzzle out, which would lead us to the next and the next clue, until finally we'd unearth a buried box full of candies. But I wanted to know where the treasure was beforehand. So I wandered off, searching for any recent disturbance of the ground. Sure ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Julia Alvarez at BookBrowse
Visitations jacket The Cemetery of Untold Stories jacket Afterlife jacket A Wedding in Haiti jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Julia Alvarez but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Helon Habila

    Helon Habila

    Helon Habila is the author of the novels, Waiting for an Angel, Measuring Time, Oil on Water, and Travelers and a nonfiction book, The Chibok Girls. His writing has won numerous awards including the Caine Prize, the ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Afterlife

    Try:
    Travelers
    by Helon Habila

  • Tayari Jones

    Tayari Jones

    Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection and also appeared on Barack Obama's summer reading list and his year-end roundup. It won the Women's ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Afterlife

    Try:
    An American Marriage
    by Tayari Jones

We recommend 3 similar authors

View all 3 Read-Alikes

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