Ron Zack About Cecilia Branard’s Novel MAGDALENA

Review by Ron Zack

I read “Mag­dale­na” while vis­it­ing the Philip­pines and want­ed to com­bine my vaca­tion with local authors. Although the author now lives in the U.S., she grew up in Cebu and I believe writes from the per­spec­tive of a Fil­ip­ina, and has a deep under­stand­ing of the coun­try. While this nov­el may be some­what over­done in parts, it is extreme­ly well-writ­ten, vivid­ly pre­sent­ed, and the author does a great job with a very ambi­tious undertaking.

A short nov­el, it cov­ers over 100 years of his­to­ry, describ­ing expe­ri­ences of three gen­er­a­tions of women and the effects of war, occu­pa­tion, and cor­rup­tion in the con­text of their per­son­al rela­tion­ships and strug­gles. The author clear­ly shows the strug­gles among many forces: pover­ty and wealth, rur­al and urban, phys­i­cal appear­ances, eth­nic dif­fer­ences, prej­u­dice and oppres­sion. The impact of social sta­tus, influ­ence of cul­tures (Span­ish, Chi­nese, Amer­i­can), and the pat­terns of wars and for­eign occu­pa­tion serve as a back­drop for the over­lap­ping lives, the lies and truths, in-breed­ing, ille­git­i­mate chil­dren, hid­den rela­tions and relationships.

This is well worth read­ing for any­one want­i­ng a bet­ter under­stand­ing of a com­plex culture.