Lucia Orth

"Baby Jesus Pawn Shop" is Lucia Orth's debut novel. I found this astonishing because of how much I enjoyed the book but also because of the sheer depth of Orth's writings about Manila and the Philippines where the novel takes place. So I was not surprised to read later on that Orth had spent five years working for a non-profit organization in Manila. I note this not to dismiss Orth's ability but because prospective readers should know that this novel is extremely vivid in its imagining of the scenery, settings and society of Manila at a tumultuous time in the city and country's history.

I really enjoyed this novel both for its central storyline about two very different individuals who have distinctly different "callings" in life but also because of the backdrop of the end of the Marcos regime in the Philippines. And thought that i had reviewed the book long ago but had not. I have always been a huge fan of historical fiction especially when the historical aspect is well written as it can (and has in a number of cases) given me some basic/foundation about the time period that provides me with a basis for reading more about the historical setting. In this case I was compelled to learn more about politics in the Philipines at the beginning of the 20th century.

I've made it a goal the last year or two to read more about some of the South Asian countries and histories and this novel in addition to other historical novels like "The Orphan Master's Son" by Adam Johnson (centered on modern North Korea) who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the book -- his first novel , "The Red Queen" by Margaret Drabble (also about modern North Korea and South Korea as well as being half about 19th century Korean monarchy by way of a Korean princess) and "Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes (a historical fiction novel based around the war in Vietnam) have provided me with an amazing amount of information that has educated (and certainly entertained me) me about these countries. If you've enjoyed any of the novels I've listed as well as the fiction and non-fiction work of China's Anchee Min ("Red Azalea", "Empress Orchid" and "Becoming Madam Mao to name just a few) writing about political upheaval in China since the Communist Revolution or Pearl Buck's fictional novels about the waning days of imperialism as well as the way of life after the revolution ("The Good Earth" trilogy, "Imperial Women" and many many more) then you would enjoy and should certainly read "Baby Jesus Pawn Shop" for a view of life at a similar time period from the point of view of an outsider and a man who has been raised in the political and societal climate of the time only complicated by a relationship that endangers them both.… (más)

Lucia Orth’s first novel, Baby Jesus Pawn Shop, is about a white American army wife of the upper class, Rue Caldwell, who falls in love with a sometimes reluctant member of the New People’s Army, Doming Aquinaldo, during the Marcos regime in the Philippines. The love story is really a backdrop, however, for the political turmoil of Manila during Marcos’ reelection in the early 1980s, and the complicity of the United States government in keeping a ruthless dictator in power in order to safeguard our own military and commercial access to the East. Orth brilliantly and beautifully tells a story of two people’s complicated love for a place (Manila), a faith (one in science, the other in an individual Catholicism), and eventually each other.

The book is written in a loose chronology, and moves back and forth between Doming Aquinaldo’s story and Rue Caldwell’s, occasionally overlapping or retracing one moment in time from the other’s perspective or repeating a line that was referred to earlier in order to retell that event in greater detail later on. But, it does not feel disjointed. Rather, the story unfolds organically, as if told from the depths of people’s memories, which in fact, is a leitmotif running through Baby Jesus Pawn Shop. Orth begins her novel with two epigraphs. One from Akiro Kurosawa: “We all want to forget something, and so we create stories.” The other from Milan Kundera that says, “Forgetting: absolute solace and absolute injustice.” The two are fitting because Orth has created a story about finding solace in a world that is absolutely unjust.

While the tone at times seems to be in a similar vein to an investigative journalist, it is also intimate and engaging enough to capture a person’s desire for love, despair at discovering the torture, murder, and corruption going on every single day outside one’s home, and a vengeful anger so powerful that it struggles against one’s higher ideals for country and humanity. Orth has the ability to weave history, myth, politics, religion, class consciousness, and respect for nature and the natural order together while never losing sight of the fact that she is writing a fictitious novel, which is meant to entertain the reader. Her style is unique and captivating – I read the entire 381-page book in one sitting because I absolutely could not put it down…

For the full review, see: http://community.livejournal.com/asianamlitfans/63090.html… (más)

This book is an in depth fictionalized look into Manila under the rule of Ferdinand Marcos in the late part of the twentieth century. Orth focuses on two characters as the lenses for her story, and what follows is a tale of suspense that lives up to the novel's claims of exploring 'the struggle of two ordinary individuals to lead a moral life when reality defies conventional notions of right and wrong' (taken from the book jacket). While it isn't necessarily a quick read, the book moves quickly if you're interested in either the setting (flawlessly rendered from what I can judge), countries in political flux, or political thrillers tailored with interesting characters.

As a whole, the book is beautifully written with just enough background that you feel as if you are learning about the historical politics going on in the background even as you're falling into the story. It is frustrating at times to see the political maneuverings and controls from only observer stand-points though. There's plenty of worth in reading about a country in the midst of upheaval from the viewpoint of those most affected, but the lack of direct insight into what politicians and military minds are doing makes the read frustrating at times for readers who want to know more about the reasons for what they're reading, as opposed to just action and effect. Overall, though, there's a pretty good balance in this regard, and I'm not sure that Orth could have pulled off as much of a flowing and page-turning novel in any other way but than to focus on the characters she chooses. For this reason, I have to say that I would have liked more of a drama with suspense than a novel that was obviously written to be a literary tale of suspense.

The book's jacket makes it sound like the political intrigue will move hand in hand with the personal development of the characters and their relationship, but when it comes down to it, the characters are less the focus, and somewhat flat in creation. This isn't to say that they're not interesting, but I wanted more about them and of them to make me truly care about Orth's novel. It was too easy to get swept along in the story, and be entertained, but not be entirely touched---and, a novel trying to do as much as this one is, I would argue, should touch readers. In the end, I'm afraid this focus on creating suspense through plot moreso than character, as true to the story as it may be, will make it easy for readers to enjoy this while they're reading it, but also leave it behind without a great deal of thought or memory that might make them look further into the issues presented or pass the book on to other likely readers.

In the end, while I Wanted more from the book, it's a good read, beautifully written and worth the time. I got this from the early reviewer program on LT, but I wouldn't have been disappointed if I'd spent money on the book from the store. I have to say that I think it had more potential than what the final result puts out, but this only leaves me anxious for Orth's next novel, considering that this is an incredibly impressive first book. My only warning to potential readers is that there is a fair amount of violence, sometimes graphic, within the book, some of it related to animals---all of it is necessary and true to environment, but as early as it comes, I have to admit that it might have put me off if I hadn't received the book from LT for free and had just been browsing. If you're overly sensitive to scenes like this, you might want to at least be wary before picking up the book, though, again, I do think it's worth the time.… (más)