(image via Pangasinan.gov.ph)
When my book club, Flips Flipping Pages, held a Rosales Saga readalong last year, I jumped on the chance to acquaint myself with National Artist F. Sionil Jose’s work, because while I’ve read his newspaper articles and even dropped by his book shop once in a blue moon, I had never read any of his novels.
The Rosales Saga is considered F. Sionil Jose’s masterpiece, composed of five books: “Po-on,” “Tree,” “My Brother, My Executioner,” “The Pretenders” and “Mass.” Set in F. Sionil Jose’s hometown of Rosales, Pangasinan, the series revolves around several generations of two families, the peasant Samsons and the wealthy Asperris.