About the Book

Celestina’s House by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez

Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

Publication Date: October 22, 2024

Book Review

Atmospheric and filled with yearning, this book tells the story of a young woman haunted by her past and the ghosts of her ancestors.

This richly woven world brings the reader into the superstitious, hyper-religious world of the artistic and upper-class Philippines in the 1960’s through the 1990’s. Celestina is the child of a disinherited heiress who married the rebellious writer who captured her attention in college. Her parents’ uneasy love story forms the base of her life, even as it ends in the ultimate betrayal.

When Celestina inherits the gorgeous home where her great-aunt was murdered years earlier, she chooses to move in, making peace with the ghosts who interfere in her life. She enters a bohemian phase of life, splitting the house into apartments that she rents out to friends and diving into nightlife, though she never really feels at peace.

Years later, Celestina struggles to believe herself worthy of love, even as she yearns for it in her relationships with Johnny, the tattooed singer, and Josemaria, the famous restauranter. But the shadow of the past looms over them, bringing darkness into the present.

A bittersweet tale of trauma, forgiveness and a search for belonging and a place to call home.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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