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Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

author and editor

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Ron Zack About Cecilia Branard’s Novel MAGDALENA

April 14, 2021 by admin Leave a Comment

Thanks to Ron Zack who wrote this Ama­zon Review about Cecil­ia Brainard’s nov­el, MAGDALENA. There is a new US Edi­tion of this nov­el that includes illus­tra­tions by the author:
https://www.amazon.com/Magdalena-US-Cecilia…/dp/1953716113
CREATIVE, ENTERTANING, AND POWERFUL
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.
Tags: book review, Philip­pines books lit­er­a­ture nov­el Fil­ip­ina fiction

Filed Under: Fiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: book review, books literature Cebu Philippines, books Philippines Cebu, Filipino women fiction, Philippine literature

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Welcome!

I am a daugh­ter of the Philip­pines and an adopt­ed daugh­ter of Amer­i­ca. I have also trav­eled to many places so I am also a daugh­ter of the Earth. My expe­ri­ences have found their way into my sto­ries, which try to depict char­ac­ters caught in impor­tant moments in their lives, sit­u­a­tions that force them to act, make deci­sions, change. I try to see the world from my own point of view, not the dom­i­nant West­ern one, thus my inter­est in his­to­ry, cul­ture, and set­ting. But my char­ac­ters car­ry my sto­ries; they are the most impor­tant in my sto­ry-telling. I have to dive deep into them to under­stand their human­i­ty – their good­ness as well as their bad­ness, their beau­ty as well as their ugli­ness. Just like us. Just like each of us. I need to know where they came from, where they are now, so I under­stand where they are going. Just like us.

Please read my full biog­ra­phy here

 

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