Magdalena by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Magdalena Reviews

• 
  Jacqie

  This short novel reminded me a bit of 100 Years of Solitude, with its theme of cyclical romance and tragedy. However, this book takes a lot less time to get to the point and doesn't employ magical realism.
  
  There's a family tree in the front of the book that I referred to time and time again as I tried to figure out who loved who, who married who, who was the father/mother of which child, as the book skipped backwards in time from the late 60's to the beginning of the 20th century and then made its way forward again.
  
  The characters in the book managed to feel both human and epic. They bought frilly colorful dresses even though they knew that made them look nouveau riche and fought with their lovers' mistresses in public hairpulling fashion, but also had their hearts truly broken and learned to move on and find serenity again anyway. The dialogue shifted from day to day talk and gossip to intimate connections seamlessly.
  
  The author also touched upon the many different cultures that have influenced the Philippines, from Chinese immigrants who took on a new identity stolen from dead immigrants who have come before because Chinese immigration was legally almost impossible, to descendants of old Spanish families who have become so inbred that they were almost to the point of dying out, to Americans who arrived due to one war or another. All of these different peoples merged with the island culture.
  
  I cared about the characters. The book was a bit soapy, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment and the sweeping emotion of it was part of the charm.
• 
  Ron Zack

  Creative, Entertaining, and Powerful
  
  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 the 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, the 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.
• 
  Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino

  Moving narrative about women in the 1940s. Makes you realize we've come a long way.
• 
  Deji

  Magdalena follows the loves and losses of high society Filipino women from WWII to the Vietnam War. F. Sionil Jose-esque family saga, nice atmospherics; overall, nothing breathtaking. It was okay. I wonder if there was more characterization to be added rather than just love and loss and love and loss but perhaps that is the point. Reminds me of Marquez and how noone found love in 100 years of solitude because they were too blinded by their own attitudes and prejudices.
  
  “In the cold, slanting rain with the wind whipping his overcoat, he paused where he and Luisa had been decades ago, and always he felt loss.”
  
  “That sounds like such a cliche, Nestor, like one of your old lines. I don’t think this pain will ever go away. Or perhaps you’re stronger than me. Maybe you have the ability to lose people you love and simply forget them. You have certainly proven that.”
  
  Excerpt From
  Magdalena
  Brainard, Cecilia Manguerra
  This material may be protected by copyright.
  
  “Love like that is eternal.”
  
  Excerpt From
  Magdalena
  Brainard, Cecilia Manguerra
  This material may be protected by copyright.
• 
  Jenn

  Wow I don't even know where to start.
  
  I think if you're going to read this book, you'll need to keep looking at the family tree. Each chapter was about a different family member and it got confusing. I didn't read it straight through and took breaks so I would forget who was married to who and who was related to who and etc.
  
  But there were so many plot twists and kept me wondering what would happen to each character. I was surprised by the explicit scenes but it was pretty good. Wasn't expecting it.
  
  I also enjoyed that through the generations, we learned about different historical and important events like WWII, the Spanish-American War, Vietnam War, and U.S. imperialism. As someone who likes history especially Fil-Am and Filipino history, I liked learning more about what it may have been like living during that time. Really enjoyed this book.
• 
  Jennifer

  I was really disappointed with this book. Brainard's first book When the Rainbow Goddess Wept was so very good. I was expecting just as much from her second book Magdalena. But instead I just got tiresome romances of cheating husbands and women who filled their empty lives wandering around their expensive mansions feeling sorry for themselves. Oh the drama! Granted, I am not an avid romance reader so maybe I would have liked it better if I was? But I really only made myself finish reading this rather slim book out of respect for how amazing Brainard's first book was.
• 
  Maryablueee

  The regrets of a man, seeing the love of his life being happy with another man. Wondering what would've become if he chooses her over another girl. Years have passed, but he still loves her. Tons of stories that will travel you back in time. A nostalgic feeling of an era. Revelations and sins of the past have swung opened. But one thing I knew, never trust a man.
• 
  Eileen

  4.5stars Well written, blending different relationships and time periods. Although I was unimpressed with 'When the Rainbow Goddess Wept', perhaps Brainard writes better love stories than war stories. Yet another book detailing extra-marital affairs and family secrets ayayay! The last 3 Filipino books I've read are a definite improvement to ones I've read in the past. yay!! -- eps, 12/06/04

  
  

  4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

  4/5stars As Reviewed On Newfilipina.com, December 18, 2002

  Amazon.com Reviewer: A reader

  Cecilia Manguerra Brainard,writer of other beloved NF reads like When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, brings us another delightful book Magdalena. In her new novel, the author takes us back to a romantic era before our time in the Philippines, painting a rich portrait of one family's dramatic legacy. Magdalena flows like classic literature, following the style of many romantic women authors such as Charlotte Bronte and Luisa May Alcott, and even more contemporary writers such as Isabelle Allende and Amy Tan.

  
  

  Although it is a quick read, the relationships between characters are so dramatic and so intertwined that it almost leaves you wanting to learn more! Brainard's style of storytelling welcomes her readers into a very familiar and intimate circle of storytelling-stirring memories of being wrapped around your lola's knee, as she tells you stories about the greatness of your family legacy and about life way back when.

  
  

  
  

  4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

  5/5stars LOVE STORY IN PHILIPPINES & VIETNAM, July 27, 2002

  Amazon.com Reviewer: A reader

  Brainard's second novel is an intriguing love story that plays with time and point of view. It's an ambitious novel of forbidden love, set against the turbulent history of East Asia in the twentient century and by turns erotic and tragic. Magdalena vividly depicts three generations of strong Filipino women. In this novel, Brainard blends a series of multiple perspectives to create a polyphony of voices that enact Philippine society. It's well-written and a great love story!
• 
  upʞ

  This easily became a favorite! There was never a boring line in the novel. It was fast-paced yet intricate. The author is good at making it a light read yet still creative. The manner of writing was the usual way of explicitly laying the stories as if the book talked to me, but it was still quite different among the novels I have read with respect to the way the author stitched the stories by every chapter. I just wish it was longer.
• 
  annie

  This is a short and fast paced book that covered a hundred years and four generations. It made me realize how much society can shape our lives and affect our decisions in life that can turn out to be a lifelong turmoil. War, corruption, societal standards, they intersect, affect our decisions and show us how it can mold us for the better or for worse. How these circumstances can shape one generation and how that previous generation can shape the next and so on which leads to a cycle of turmoils. Although I really did not like how some of the characters decided and chose their path, I understood why they did that (does not mean I condone it tho, never but understandable considering all those different factors at those times).
  It was great to be able to read about my own culture and the history of my country. I’ll definitely be into more Filipino literature.
• 
  Joe

  
  Author tries to tell a story by relating the lives of several different prominent women in a family. There are serious problems with characterization here. Not only are all the female characters the same, but this ur-female is desperately flat.
  
  Can't even remember why I read this...
• 
  justine

  a wonderful and at times heartbreaking book about life during war and wrong choices.
• 
  Akiri Quirit

  good novel ...
  
• 
  c.c. ladia

  Copy signed by the author
• 
  Kevin Enriquez

  wewewe