The Last Time I Saw Mother

I have never heard of Arlene Chai before. The only reason I read The Last Time I Saw Mother was because my wife had a copy and it was on our shelf. After reading it, however, I realized what a gem it was. It is the story of Caridad, a Filipino immigrant in search of her past, but it also tells the story of the Filipino people in the past half century, from the horrors of the Japanese occupation to the euphoria of the EDSA Revolution.

The central plot of a woman learning late in life of her true identity is no longer new for Filipinos used to the melodramatic twists and turns of telenovelas. The real appeal of the novel is how Filipino it was. It is impossible for any Filipino not to be able to relate to Chai's depiction of the sufferings during the war, the cultural practices surrounding courtship, marriage, and childbirth, and the changes that happen as Filipinos live in other countries - as one in ten of us have decided to do. She describes our stories, and the stories we hear at the dinner table from our parents and grandparents. She gave me a more profound understanding of Anderson's "imagined community." Filipinos reading this book and recognizing himself and his family will understand how it is to be part of the imagined community that is the Filipino nation.

Caridad's story is similar to the story of a woman close to me. I can only hope she, too, will learn about the secrets of her past, and the women in her life will also find redemption.