Book Synopsis

Set during a time of political upheaval and civil unrest, The Betrayed tells a sensual and sprawling story about two sisters who love the same man. Passionately told, and portraying a Philippines rarely seen in fiction, Reine Archache Melvin's American debut is a gripping, sensual story that readers will not soon forget.

Shy, idealistic Pilar is resolved to carry on her dead father's fight against the dictatorial regime in control of their homeland, while her flamboyant older sister Lali reacts to their father's death by marrying the enemy--Arturo, the dictator's godson. Each sister is prey to her desires and ambitions as she tries to find her place in a rapidly changing world.

Taking in the Philippines' troubled history from the Marcos dictatorship to the establishment of the current autocratic regime, and expertly layering into this timely story many aspects of the human condition, The Betrayed is a complex and luminous novel.

Review Quotes

★ "Beautifully plotted and written, The Betrayed is a striking work of fiction populated with fully realized characters who will live in readers' memories."--Booklist (Starred Review)

"Sumptuous and visceral... A novel about desire and denial."--The New York Times Book Review

"Violence and chicanery, love and survival, poverty and careless opulence: Everything's in play in Melvin's sprawling family saga set in the Philippines."--Kirkus Reviews

"Melvin offers a convincing perspective on political turmoil and the ways it impacts her characters' lives."--Publishers Weekly

"[Melvin's] beautiful, sensual, visceral writing shows us that the past is not really a foreign country, but our own country in an eternal loop."--Jessica Zafra, author of Twisted

"Highly readable and enjoyable, it compellingly contains, in its confident tone and language, a powerful mosaic of images, characters, and relationships."--Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta, author of Life Before X and Other Stories