Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (Historical novel) *****

 Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay(Historical novel)

The dark side of California history. The Filipino immigrant experience. From the Spanish-American War to farm laborers to World War II allies to anti-Asian sentiments in the 21^st century, the US relationship with the Philippines has been difficult.

Over the centuries, immigrants came to California for work. There were the 19th-century Chinese who came for mining and railroad work. The Okies during the Depression for farm labor. Mexican guest-workers in the 1960s. This book is about the Filipino experience.  Each Filipino generation faced its own challenges: “Manong Generation, the Watsonville riots, Stockton’s Little Manila, the Delano grape strike, the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr., and the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This book explores the relationship between the Philippines and the United States. Between the Spanish-American War and World War II, Filipinos were non-citizen US nationals. People like Francisco could immigrate. As Francisco learned, he was not a citizen and was not welcome. Francisco faced brutal racism. During WWII, Filipinos were promised citizenship, but this didn’t happen.

The Filipino experiences of racism and discrimination are shared with other minorities. They were grouped with other Asians during the Asian backlash during COVID-19, and with Mexicans during the California farm labor movement. This book is valuable for focusing on Filipino history instead of combining it with some other group.

A historical novel that is hard to read at times.

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

Longlisted for the National Book Award

Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award

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