Reuniting With Strangers

by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio

Douglas & McIntyre

Reuniting With Strangers

by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio

Douglas & McIntyre

Inspired by the work of Souvankham Thammavongsa, Catherine Hernandez and Wayson Choy, this unforgettable novel follows the reunification of Filipino caregiver families over one Canadian winter—and the mysterious progress of Monolith, who appears and disappears in their lives.

When five-year-old Monolith is taken from the Philippines to live with his mother in Canada, he immediately lashes out. Unable or unwilling to speak, he attacks her and destroys his new home.

Everyone wants to know why—and everyone has a theory. But unlike the solid certainty his name suggests, the answer isn’t so simple.

From a cliffside town in the Tagaytay highlands of the Philippines, to the Filipino communities in the desert of Osoyoos, the Arctic world of Iqaluit, the suburbs of southern Ontario, Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, Montréal’s Côte-des-Neiges, and Toronto’s Little Manila, Austria-Bonifacio takes readers into the kaleidoscope of the Filipino diaspora, uncovering the displacement, estrangement, resilience and healing that happen behind closed doors.

As each chapter unfolds, truths are revealed in humorous, joyful, devastating and surprising ways: through an incisive caregiver’s instruction manual, a custody battle over texts and e-mails, a disarmingly direct self-help guide, a series of desperate résumés, a kundiman songbook, and more.

Monolith appears again and again, as a misbehaving boy in a store, the subject of town gossip, a face in a fundraising campaign, a client in questionable care, a dying man’s beacon of hope—and an unlikely new friend.

Compellingly readable, incisive and resonant, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio’s stunning debut opens a window into the homes and hearts of the Filipino-Canadian community.

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Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio has worked with Ontario school boards as a settlement worker, public speaker and researcher, also founding Filipino Talks - a program that builds bridges between educators and Filipino families. She has a Masters in Immigration and Settlement Studies, a post-graduate certificate from the Humber School for Writers. Her writing has appeared in anthologies, Geist and The Philippine Reporter where she was a journalist. She is a founding member of a collective of Filipino-Canadian writers www.plumawrites.ca. As a community worker, youth mentor, Little Manila tour guide and author Jennilee spends a lot of time thinking about the Filipino community.

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