In the Philippines, one out of every three households includes a family member who lives and works overseas. More than 660,000 Filipinos work in Canada; three million work in the United States.
Legacy of a Filipina, a new novel by Charles Au Lavoie, examines the divide between these Filipinos and the North Americans who encounter them on a daily basis: employers, co-workers, church-goers and neighbours.
This unique story revolves around three main characters: Carmelita Tauber, the matriarch of her Filipino community; George Miller, a Canadian writer who is pulled into Carmelita's orbit; and Carmelita's nephew Marty Pua, who journeys to the Philippines in search of his roots after a disastrous love affair.
As the story moves from Canada's West Coast to Honolulu and the Philippines, Legacy of a Filipina explores the immigrant experience and the universal themes of love, loss and new beginnings.