"CAROLINE HAU'S FICTION EXHIBITS THOSE CHARACTERISTICS THT HAVE LONG MARKED HER SCHOLARSHIP: LUMINOUS PROSE, KEEN OBSERVATION, TENCHANT INSIGHT. SPANNING SOME TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, THESE STORIES ALSO TELL A TALE OF HER OWN JOURNEY AS LITERARY ARTISTS AND SCHOLAR; FROM THE PLIGHT OF A CHINESE-FILIPINO WOMAN DURING WWII GRIVEING IN SILENCE THE DEATH OF A HUSBAND TO THE SADLY VAIN ATTEMPTS OF A TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY KAPAMPANGAN ARTISTS TO MAKE A PRECARIOUS LIVING AND TO KEEP ALIVE VESTIGES OF A DYING CULTURE BY PAINTING THE DEAD WE GLIMPSE TOO A RECORD OF OUR OWN PASSING" --CHARLSON ONG