Written in Spanish in 1885 and translated into English in 1908, Nínay is the story of a heartbroken young woman before her death.
The Classic -Nínay by Pedro Alejandro Paterno
When Pedro Alejandro Paterno was twenty-three he authored the first novel written by a native Filipino, Nínay. Nínay first loses her love, Carlos, when he flees the country after being falsely accused of being the leader of a rebellion. Nínay confines herself to a convent after the death of her parents. However, shortly after Carlos’ return, both he and Nínay become victims of cholera.
Many literary critics have issues with Nínay due to its unique structure and plot. Some believe that the story reads more like a framework than a full novel. Others believe that the plot is too melodramatic. Despite the critics, Nínay is considered an important part of literary history. Paterno used his story to showcase the culture and characteristics of Filipino people, who were still a colony of Spain at the time. It draws on the customs of the time and portrays the life of everyday people.
Nínay
by Paterno, Pedro A
Published just two years before José Rizal's national epic, Touch Me Not, Pedro A. Paterno's Nínay is a cultural novel that portrays Philippine society to an international non-Filipino audience.
Considered to be the first novel published by a Native Filipino author, Nínay follows the life, love and death of a young woman named Antonina Milo y Buisan, or "Nínay" for short. Her story is told by a young man named Taric to an unknown narrator over the course of the nine-day vigil of Pasiyam. Recounting the passionate affair in the time of cholera between Nínay and the highly regarded Don Carlos Mabagsic, Taric explores the journey of two young lovers and the events that lead to their eventual separation.
Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Nínay is a reimagining of a Filipino classic for the modern reader.
Our Modern Companion - A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn
Melissa Chadburn is a Filipino author whose debut novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, draws heavily on her heritage. The story follows a young woman, Marina Salles, who finds herself transformed into the stuff of myth after her sudden death. This is where Chadburn leans into Filipino folklore as Marina becomes an aswang.
For most of her life, Marina has considered herself an outsider. She watched life from a distance, not seeing all the beautiful moments of her life. But for the nine days she is an aswang, can see the memories of others – including her killer. An aswang is a vengeful creature and Marina has to decide if she should give into it, or show mercy. But as she looks back at the past, she starts to realize what lead these two castoffs to their inevitable end.
A Tiny Upward Shove
by Chadburn, Melissa
"Wild and ambitious . . . [with] something ablaze at its core. It burns." --The New York Times Book Review
A Tiny Upward Shove is inspired by Melissa Chadbur's Filipino heritage and its folklore, as it traces the too-short life of a young, cast-off woman transformed by death into an agent of justice--or mercy.
Marina Salles's life does not end the day she wakes up dead.
Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother's old Filipino stories--an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others. Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known--even her killer--as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
In A Tiny Upward Shove, the debut novelist Melissa Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society's castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy?