Love & Other Rituals
by Monica Macansantos
A man imprisoned by taboo learns the price of love. A child visits the grave of a cousin she’s never met; another absorbs the fallout of her parents’ divorce. Friendships rupture beyond repair, and family members collide when it comes to caring for their ageing father.
These vivid stories of yearning, loneliness and resilience navigate the naivety of childhood, the complications of young adulthood and the politics of marriage.
Monica Macansantos is a powerful new voice bringing us the raw and darkly beautiful perspectives of characters lost both in and out of their homeland, the Philippines.
“Macansantos’s voice uses a kind of quiet, slow clarity, which holds the main characters up for the viewing by the readers, introducing the reader to the moment, only to then slowly peel back the character layer by layer through flashbacks or moments of reflection, until we realize that the character, from the beginning of this story, had been, and is still struggling to figure out what love in their life looks like and how to act on that love with those around them. The answer is usually difficult and complicated.
— international examiner
“We move through this collection meeting our protagonists in moments when they are at their most vulnerable, when the equilibrium of their lives is slowly being pulled away from them, and we are introduced to each one of them in vivid ways that instantly make you feel invested.”
— COLORADO REVIEW
“Monica Macansantos’s Love and Other Rituals draws you into its wondrous collection of the Filipino diaspora stories while webbing each unique life and storyline together through the common theme of love. Whether it be about familial, nostalgic, friendly, romantic, or another type of love, Macansantos weaves even the most juxtaposed storylines together into a lovely larger collection.”
