Malaya Baltimore Book Club

In honor of Filipino American History Month, we are launching our first ever book club! Open to all.

Location to be announced.

Contact Malaya Baltimore with any questions.

About the book

America is Not The Heart

By Elaine Castillo

Fiction, 432 pages

Description

When Hero De Vera arrives in America--haunted by the political upheaval in the Philippines and disowned by her parents--she's already on her third. Her uncle gives her a fresh start in the Bay Area, and he doesn't ask about her past. His younger wife knows enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. But their daughter--the first American-born daughter in the family--can't resist asking Hero about her damaged hands.

An increasingly relevant story told with startling lucidity, humor, and an uncanny ear for the intimacies and shorthand of family ritual, America Is Not the Heart is a sprawling, soulful debut about three generations of women in one family struggling to balance the promise of the American dream and the unshakeable grip of history. With exuberance, grit, and sly tenderness, here is a family saga; an origin story; a romance; a narrative of two nations and the people who leave one home to grasp at another.

Where to get the book

Libby app

This book is available for free on the Libby app with a Baltimore City public library card.

About Malaya Baltimore

Malaya Baltimore advocates for democracy, sovereignty and human rights in the Philippines. Locally, we fight for the welfare of Filipino migrant workers.

Email: malaya.baltimore@protonmail.com

IG: malaya.baltimore