Woman with Horns and Other Stories

Book excerpt: WOMAN WITH HORNS AND OTHER STORIES is a collection of a dozen stories by Philippine American writer Cecilia Manguerra Brainard that weave Philippine history, culture, folklore, and myths. This 2020 edition of this anthology presents this beloved stories to a new audience as well as readers of Brainard's subsequent literary work, which include the novels WHEN THE RAINBOW WEPT, MAGDALENA, and THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW. Brainard's books, including the books she edited, GROWING UP FILIPINO: STORIES FOR YOUNG ADULTS and the follow-up GROWING UP FILIPINO II, are considered significant contributions to Philippine, Philippine American, as well as Asian American literature. Katipunan praised it as follows: "Beautifully written in the minimalist style yet never lacking color and clarity, Brainard's stories reach out from the deep centuries of folklore, superstition, religion, customs, geography, and history to bring them life into the present. But more than life itself, this book mirrors the unique ways in which the Filipino woman searches for meaning." World Literature Today noted, "The author, through deep woman-knowledge, makes the stories into one web, weaving events (folkloric, historical, and contemporary) and people through sensibility rather than structure, drawing the reader into the loom of history and fiction, to read all life as one unity.