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list price: $11.99
edition:eBook
also available: Paperback
category: Fiction
published: Sep 2024
ISBN:9781459754027
publisher: Dundurn Press
imprint: Rare Machines

Celestina's House

by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez

tagged: literary, magical realism, gothic, occult & supernatural
Description

The secrets of the house are the secrets of the heart.

CBC BOOKS CANADIAN FICTION BOOKS TO READ IN FALL 2024

It begins with an act of betrayal that destroys the tenuous bonds of Celestina Errantes’s family. For years afterwards, Celestina longs for an escape from her unhappy home. Then an unexpected gift from her wealthy Lolo offers that chance: a long-forsaken property in Manila’s bohemian district, close to where ladies of the evening ply their trade. It is no place for a proper young woman, but this house, even with its ghosts, makes Celestina feel at home.
Celestina tears into life, losing herself in the pleasures of the night, but soon finds that the emptiness within her is not easily filled. When finally a true chance at happiness promises to save her, a sinister voice from the past returns, threatening to destroy it all.
A RARE MACHINES BOOK

About the Author

Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez was born in the Philippines, rather aptly on Hallowe'en, and grew up in a world animated by spirits and even the occasional miracle. Celestina's House is her debut novel. She works as a communications professional, and cocoons in her west end Toronto home with her spouse and daughter in between bouts of wanderlust.

Contributor Notes

Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez was born in the Philippines, rather aptly on Hallowe'en, and grew up in a world animated by spirits and even the occasional miracle. Celestina's House is her debut novel. Clarissa lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

With a lush, tropical setting, an entrancing protagonist, and swirling ghosts that guide and subvert, Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez has crafted a darkly romantic, immersive world.

— Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, author of Reuniting with Strangers

Celestina’s House is steeped in ghosts and memories that haunt three generations of a family. Celestina fearlessly confronts her own demons, and mala, along with devastating family secrets. This is a skilfully written and searingly honest story that you will not forget.

— Kim Echlin, author of Speak, Silence

A finely wrought and richly textured intergenerational saga that weaves a family’s history and stories into a deeply felt meditation on love, grief, and loss. Celestina’s House is a rare, beautiful, and moving narrative of a young woman’s search for love, truth and self amid obstacles, trials and impossible odds. A ravishing and astonishing debut.

— Patria Rivera, author of Puti/White

An ornately detailed, decadent, and erotic world inhabited by a fascinating array of characters, both despicable and heroic, a world that needs to be visited and savoured.

— Aga Maksimowska, author of Giant

Transporting us to a Manila of dark romance and ghosts, Celestina's House is a gothic novel that reminds us how the past is never wholly escapable. Rich and sweeping and literally haunting.

— Andrew Pyper, author of The Residence and The Demonologist

A rich, dark, and singular story of haunted love and incurable loss you won’t soon forget.

— Cindy Fazzi, author of Multo

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