When the Hibiscus Falls

Seventeen stories traverse borderlines, mythic and real, in the lives of Filipino and Filipino American women and their ancestors.

Moving from small Philippine villages of the past to the hurricane-beaten coast of near-future Florida, When the Hibiscus Falls examines the triumphs and sorrows that connect generations of women. Daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties, cousins, and lolas commune with their ancestors and their descendants, mourning what is lost when an older generation dies, celebrating what is gained when we safeguard their legacy for those who come after us. Featuring figures familiar from M. Evelina Galang’s other acclaimed and richly imagined novels and stories, When the Hibiscus Falls dwells within the complexity of family, community, and Filipino American identity. Each story is an offering, a bloom that unfurls its petals and holds space in the sun.

Publication date: June 13, 2023 

Format: Trade Paper

Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25

Page count: 256 pages 

ISBN: 9781566896795

M. Evelina Galang is the daughter of Filipino American immigrants who first came to the United States in the mid-1950s. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she is the eldest of six. By the time she was twelve, she had moved to seven cities before her family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The author of two novels, two story collections, and a work of nonfiction, and the editor of Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images, she draws from the stories she grew up on and the research from a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award as well as numerous grants and fellowships from the University of Miami. Galang has been recognized as a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist, a Zalaznick Distinguished Visiting Writer at Cornell University, and an awardee of the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. The American Library Association named Galang’s Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery among recommended feminist literature for ages zero to eighteen. She lives in Miami, where she teaches creative writing.

An Oprah Daily Book We Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

A TODAY Book We Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

A Ms. Magazine Most Anticipated Book of 2023

“Galang’s masterly latest takes on xenophobia, racism, and other ills via stories of strong Filipino women. This is a winner.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A collection that honors the deep connections that exist between descendants and ancestors.”

—Lupita Aquino, TODAY

“Galang’s short stories brim with family members—lolas and lolos, ates and kuyas, people whose care can be suffocating or revelatory as each generation confronts what Filipino American identity means to them.”

—Kirkus

“Psychic strength was clearly required to write these stories revolving around generations of Filipino women in the U.S. and the Philippines, and the roles they play.”

—Eileen Tabios, Halo-Halo Review

“M. Evelina Galang dances from ancestral myth to imaginary futures with a sure-footed grace, and her luminous characters—whether in Manila or Miami, the Midwest or beyond—urge us all to rediscover where we come from and what matters in the end.”

—Mia Alvar

“The descriptions in M. Evelina Galang’s When the Hibiscus Falls never fail. Whether rendering the slightest touch between hands or the raw energy of a hurricane, Galang’s language is in high form.”

—Percival Everett

“Long esteemed as a writers’ writer, Evelina Galang recognizes the unity between this world and the next, grounding her vision in the intimate language of Filipino family and community.”

—Sarah Schulman

“Pioneering, lyrical, and full of life.”

—Lorrie Moore

“A collection of rare and fierce beauty examining generational and contemporary diasporic life. The characters embody history, myth, and homeland—lost and imagined—and will break your heart.”

—Marie Myung-Ok Lee

“A stunning collection.”

—Daniel Chacón

“M. Evelina Galang creates here a community, a world, and a world literature. Read and be amazed.”

—David Mura

“Evelina Galang’s stories take us on poignant diasporic journeys, not just in and out of different countries, but through generations. These stories are brave and real and full of heart.”

—Achy Obejas