Gun Dealers’ Daughter
W.W. Norton 2012
Winner of the 2013 PEN/Open Book Award
Shortlisted for the 2014 Saroyan International Prize
At university in Manila, young, bookish Soledad Soliman falls in with radical friends, defying her wealthy parents and their society crowd. Drawn in by two romantic young rebels, Sol initiates a conspiracy that quickly spirals out of control. Years later, far from her homeland, Sol reconstructs her fractured memories, writing a confession she hopes will be her salvation. Illuminating the dramatic history of the Marcos-era Philippines, this story of youthful passion is a tour de force.
From Los Angeles Review of Books:
IN HER BRILLIANT NEW NOVEL and American debut, Gun Dealers’ Daughter, Filipino writer Gina Apostol creates one of the most compelling characters in recent fiction: Soledad Soliman, daughter of a wealthy arms merchant during the Marcos years, useful fool and maybe worse. Soledad herself pieces the story together for us — of how bad turned to worse — and whatever one makes of it finally, she holds our attention to the last word with what is almost, yes, a writer’s sensibility and style.
From the Judges’ Citation, PEN/Open Book Award
Not only does this novel make an argument for social revolution, it makes an argument for the role of literature in revolution—the argument being that literature can be revolution.