When the Hibiscus Falls

Seventeen stories nimbly traversing borderlines, mythic and real, in the lives of Filipino and Filipino American women and their ancestors. Like red gumamela--hibiscus flowers--that bloom spectacularly for a day before other blossoms take their place, the stories in When the Hibiscus Falls examine the triumphs, sorrows, and connections between generations of women. Whether in small villages in the Philippines of the past, the hurricane-beaten coast of present-day Florida, or traversing the physical and psychological distance between the two, these daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties, and lolas are in conversation with both their ancestors and their descendants--which is evidenced by characters recurring across stories and the appearance of familiar figures from M. Evelina Galang's other writing. When the Hibiscus Falls is a richly evocative collection that examines the complexity of family, community, and Filipino American identity.