Weekend at the 32nd Manila International Book Fair

As you can probably tell, I’m totally zonked from five days of the MIBF — I think I was there from opening to closing time nearly everyday!

Well, you’ve seen half of my loot — and there’s more to come, but in the meantime, here’s the weekend I spent at the 32nd Manila International Book Fair!

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Detour from Ever After

(As promised yesterday, here’s the review of Before Ever After, first published in Manila Bulletin, Students and Campuses section)

Not all fairy tales have a happy ending — this is what Shelley Gallus discovers in “Before Ever After,” the debut novel of Filipino author Samantha Sotto.

After her idyllic marriage is cut short by the untimely death of her husband in a terrorist bombing, Shelley has a difficult time moving on, overcome by grief and memories of their life together. One fateful day, her doorbell rings, and she finds the story isn’t over just yet – standing on her doorstep is a man who looks exactly like her husband.

The stranger introduces himself as Paolo, claims her husband Max is his grandfather, and that Max is halfway across the world, alive and apparently well, and Paolo has pictures to prove it. Bewildered, and yet desperate for the truth, Shelley agrees to accompany Paolo to find the husband she believed dead. Along the way they exchange memories of the man they thought they knew, and Max’s identity is gradually revealed.

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Dinner with Samantha Sotto

After I finished reading Before Ever After, I immediately requested an interview with author Samantha Sotto, because I enjoyed the novel so much.

I’m glad her crazy week had room for me, because it was such a pleasure to meet her!

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Before Ever After book launch at National Book Store

A couple of weeks ago, I got a package containing an uncorrected proof of a book entitled Before Ever After.

Curious, I leafed through the press materials that came with it and found out that the author, Samantha Sotto, is Filipino, and the book launch is on July 27, 6 pm at National Book Store Glorietta 5.

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