cover image Baby Jesus Pawn Shop

Baby Jesus Pawn Shop

Lucia Orth, . . Permanent, $30 (381pp) ISBN 978-1-57962-170-4

Orth, who worked five years for a nonprofit organization in Manila, Philippines, captures both the beauty and cruelty she witnessed there in her stellar first novel, set in the early 1980s near the end of Ferdinand Marcos's despotic reign. Doming Aquinaldo, a rebel whose father was murdered by Marcos's henchmen, is employed as a driver for a U.S. diplomat, Trace Caldwell, who supports the regime's oppressive policies. Doming eventually finds an ally (and lover) in Trace's lonely wife, Rue, who comes around to Doming's view after witnessing the everyday atrocities to which U.S. officials turn a blind eye. Orth vividly evokes the Manila of that era, from the beggars to the superstitious prophecies that substitute for hope, with such sensory details as the sound of a ripe mango hitting the ground and the bitter tang of rice wine vinegar on a piece of tanguigi (e.g., a whitefish). A judicious peppering of Tagalog lends further authenticity. (Nov.)