Caroline S. Hau

Tiempo Muerto

Dani Pesayco

The summary of this book is misleading—it's not the story of an OFW domestic helper looking for her mom and an old-rich Visayan heiress looking for her yaya, it's the story of two lost women finding themselves in the midst of history, controversy, and society.

I like what one review here said and I think it sums the book up perfectly: "it reads like a modern day Victorian novel" but placed in the Philippine context. It was definitely an experience—less like reading a novel and more like reading a historical and fictionalized non-fiction book with a story in its heart.

I took my time reading and absorbing this book, thoroughly enjoying all the parallels in the story with current-world Philippines despite it being set maybe in the early 2000s. The writing style is direct and intentional, narrative when needed, and never long-winding even with its longer passages. You could tell that it's truly a book rooted in the heart of the Philippine experience, one that's not all good. By the end, it transforms back into the age-old tale of the rich exploiting and oppressing the poor with power and money in its endless cycle.

Especially reading it now given my country's current socio-political climate, it really makes you wonder if it'll ever end. With stories like these, all we can do is hold on to hope and learn to look up, and by then we can take the next step.

Tiempo Muerto

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