Martinez has crafted an epic that is as magical as Frasquita's sewing. Characters are woven together in a tightly stitched tapestry that shimmers with complexity. The illusive relationships that bind them are iridescent: never completely one or the other. Shifting in response to hefty doses of daily tragedy, no one escapes the cruelty inflicted by time, gossip, ignorance and jealousy. As the butterfly that Frasquita carefully studies, eventually all is turned to dust, but not before beautifully suffering. Martinez's poetic language is transcendent, and never fails to encapsulate the unbearably bittersweet nature of love.