Gun Dealers' Daughter: A Novel
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the PEN/Open Book Award
At university in Manila, young, bookish Soledad Soliman falls in with radical friends, defying her wealthy parents and their society crowd. Drawn in by two romantic young rebels, Sol initiates a conspiracy that quickly spirals out of control. Years later, far from her homeland, Sol reconstructs her fractured memories, writing a confession she hopes will be her salvation. Illuminating the dramatic history of the Marcos-era Philippines, this story of youthful passion is a tour de force.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philippine National Book Award winner Apostol chronicles a country in political turmoil in her vertiginous American debut. Soledad Soliman lives in a Philippines under martial law and rife with violent opposition groups, but her life exists in a "gilded womb." When she enters university in Manila, she encounters the poverty and political unrest of her country and soon falls for the charismatic Maoist Jed, realizing that "o enter the gates of country," she must "give up suite of custom-designed rooms and march." As she becomes more involved with the movement, she confronts the sordid source of her family's great wealth and begins to learn Philippine history from the perspective of her own people, deftly revealing the problematic relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines. Poetically told through the shattered prism of Sol's memory (which reflects the revisionist history of her country and calls into question the very nature of truth and narrative), the reason for her madness comes to light as she recounts her own, and her country's, rebellious and tragic past. Apostol (Bibliolepsy) offers an intriguing and significant view of Marcos-era Philippines in this complex and feverish novel.
