by Rose Cruz Churma
In The Company of Strangers is the third published anthology by Michelle Cruz Skinner, current president of the Filipino Association of University Women (FAUW).
Prior to this book, she has published two short story collections, Balikbayan and Mango Seasons which were nominated for a Philippine National Book Award.
This anthology includes three short memoirs. “Translating” is the first narrative in the collection, while the “Old Man’s Head” is positioned midway, and the third, “Paper” concludes the collection.
These mini-memoirs are my favorites in the collection. I spent my childhood summers in the province of Zambales and have cousins I visited often in Olongapo, the setting for most of her recollections.
The author is able to capture the essence of Olongapo or any urban setting in the Philippines of the late 60s and early 70s, especially in areas affected by the insidious American presence via its military bases.
Her observations of that era’s daily routines are astounding: in reading these, one is transported once more to those days, and I realize how our Filipino women folk have a universal way of reacting to life’s daily surprises.
And when we find ourselves transported to other lands, or forced to be in the company of strangers, we realize that “the love of a daughter for a heritage that, even while suppressed or denied, can never be erased” as noted by Marian Villanueva in her brief review of the anthology at the back of the book’s cover.
Formatted at the middle of the collection is a three-chapter novella revolving around the travails of a Philippine ambassador’s staff in Italy. Interestingly, graphics reminiscent of ethnic weaving from the Philippines adorns the edges of the pages that contain the novella.
The graphics etched at the pages of the three chapters piqued my interest, so I read these first, and it set the tone for the rest of the novella. There is a sadness to it—the longing for the scents and sounds of home and the pervasive homesickness that lurks in the dialogue. It was hard to shake-off.
The rest of the anthology consists of nine typical short stories and one titled “Natural Selection” formatted as a series of letters written by a young man newly arrived to the Philippines to participate in the “establishment of a modern school system…one of the most gratifying results of American control in the islands.”
Often referred to as Thomasites (after the ship that transported them), Harry, the protagonist, is one of 500-600 teachers who arrived in the Philippines sent by the U.S. government in August 1901 to establish a public school system in the newly minted American colony.
Framed as a series of letters from Harry to his sister Anna, we experience the Philippines from the eyes of one transplanted to a new land. It is also a delightful love story, one with a happy ending.
The book’s author, Michelle Cruz Skinner has also written both fiction and non-fiction which have appeared in various magazines, journals, and anthologies.
A former teacher at Punahou School, her anthology, Mango Seasons has been nominated for the Philippine National Book Award. “Faith Healer” from Balikbayan, was selected for the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project and her work has been adapted for stage and public radio. She was born in Manila but raised primarily in Olongapo City and now resides in Kailua, Hawai’i.
The book’s cover was art created by Dindo Llana who satirizes politicians and celebrities and depicts them on milk can labels. The label of each can used in the front and back covers were reproduced at the last pages of the book along with some explanations. Each has the word “leche” and is used as a curse word, which means “milk” in Filipino slang and used as a vulgar term for semen.
Dindo Llana’s work has appeared in numerous books, one of which is the popular You Know You Are Filipino If…as well as other children’s books. His paintings and installations have been shown in galleries and museums in the Philippines, as well as Australia, Spain, Hong Kong and San Francisco. He was awarded an art grant from the Asian Cultural Council in 2009, retired from advertising and re-started with the art scene after a long hiatus, and plans to take-up a Masters Studies in Anthropology. He resides in Quezon City, Philippines.
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
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