Book picks similar to
Pinaglahuan by Faustino S. Aguilar


filipino
fiction
novel
panitikan-ng-pilipinas

Putney Bridge


Helen Ryan - 2015
     Her two daughters, from a previous relationship, are now both adult. Jo, ambitious and independent, is pursuing a career as a barrister. Jo’s younger sister is very different. Shelley, just 20, sweet natured, trusting and innocent, still lives at home and works at a local animal clinic. They are a normal, happy family - and then Shelley meets Sam on the street and everything changes. Martha struggles to accept Shelley’s choice of boyfriend as, with increasing anger, she witnesses the erosion of all Shelley’s values under Sam’s influence. When Martha’s efforts to persuade Shelley to give Sam up fail, she decides on a more direct approach. The consequences of her actions are devastating for everyone and change the course of Martha’s life forever. “After I’d gone up to bed that night, leaving Gabe amidst the carnage I had created in the living room, I formulated my plan. But it was pure chance that I met Sam on Putney Bridge some three weeks later and I went ahead with it.”

Hot Water Man


Deborah Moggach - 1984
    Among the ex-pats already there is straight-talking Duke Hanson, whose all-American values cannot prevent him falling, then sinking, helplessly in love with a sophisticated Pakistani girl. In the ensuing tangle of Anglo-American-Oriental relations, the strangest things for those who have come out East are revealed in the very people with whom they arrived…

Secrets in Stone


Rebecca A. Engel - 2014
    An unrequited crush. A break-in and near assault.Life wasn't going too well for Joyce Manning. Given her circumstances, it wasn't surprising that she was willing to accept the strange condition in the will of a heretofore-unknown relative. Joyce would inherit a house, and an income, if she lives in the property for two years. Joyce doesn't hesitate to leave Chicago for upstate New York. It's not until she's almost there that she begins to worry that the house might be a rickety shack with no lights or running water, and filled with feral cats.It's not. In some ways, it's worse. The house is like something out of a nightmare, crawling with gargoyles and grotesques. The nearest neighbor to the isolated house, depending on who you talk to, is a spa -- or a mental asylum.But it's not all bad. The interior of the house, thankfully, doesn't match the outside. Not one but two local men actively pursue Joyce -- more attention than she garnered in Chicago. And not having to work for a living is a dream come true.Things would be great, if it weren't for the odd occurrences in the house, and the changes on its outside that make Joyce wonder whether her imagination is too vivid or if she's losing her mind. Will Joyce realize that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is? Because the house has a horrifying secret, and there was a special -- and sinister -- reason Joyce was lured there.

Hungarian Dances


Jessica Duchen - 2008
    Instead, she's a teacher, a mum and wife to Julian, a very English husband. When disaster befalls her best friend, Karina feels forced to question the very foundations of her existence.

D. H. Lawrence: The Rainbow


Frank Glover Smith
    

The Bottled Leopard


Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike
    

The Final Detail / Just One Look


Harlan Coben
    

A Sudden Dawn


Goran Powell - 2006
    Sardili realizes that he would rather seek enlightenment than follow his family's military legacy and sets out on a life-long quest for truth and wisdom.Sardili becomes the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, known as Da Mo in China. He travels throughout India, brings Buddhism to China, and single handedly establishes the Shaolin Temple as the birthplace of Zen and the Martial Arts.A Sudden Dawn is a refreshing take on the mythical origins of Kung Fu with a good pace, enjoyable interpretation of legendary characters, and wonderfully written adventures during the long journey across Asia.

The Girl at the Deep End of the Lake


Sam Lee Jackson - 2018
    But, when the ingrate disappears into the mean streets of Phoenix you don’t let that stand. You recruit your old partner, Blackhawk, and together you take on two of the bloodiest cartels in the Southwest. Yeah, that’s what happens.

Whirligig


Magnus Macintyre - 2013
    He is a fat man. A fat man with thin limbs, like an egg with tentacles. And life is not going well. He’s alone, idle, and on the brink of a medical crisis when a childhood acquaintance makes him an offer he can’t understand, can’t talk about, but ultimately can’t refuse. A week later, he finds himself in the wilds of Scotland, plunged into an eccentric community at war over a wind farm. He’s supposed to be a backer, but he has no idea what side he’s on, even though it may bag him a lot of money. All he wants is to look like a hero in front of the woman with the bright blue eyes who brought him here. To do so he must run the gauntlet of a family with many dark secrets, some dangerous hippies and their hallucinogenic potions, and the wilderness itself with all its threats and dangers. Whirligig is a raucous, joyous, often poignant comedy about the redemptive power of the countryside. Written with peerless wit, it’s a timely fable that takes its place within the tradition of the Great English Comic Novel. It’s The Wicker Man as told by P.G. Wodehouse.

Victory Park


Rachel Kerr - 2020
    But the truth is life is threadbare and unpromising until the mysterious Bridget moves in to the Park. The wife of a disgraced Ponzi schemer, she brings with her glamour and wild dreams and an unexpected friendship. Drawn in, Kara forgets for a moment who she’s there to protect.

Empire of Memory


Eric Gamalinda - 1992
    Because of this we have no memory of ourselves: we remember only the last deluge, the last seismic upheaval. Two friends are hired by Marcos to rewrite Philippine history. Their mission: to make it appear that Marcos was destined to rule the country in perpetuity. Working from an office called Agency for the Scientific Investigation of the Absurd, they embark on a journey that will take them across a surreal panorama of Philippine politics and history, and in the process question all their morals and beliefs. This landscape includes mythological sultans, mercenaries, the Beatles, messianic Amerasian rock stars, faith healers, spies, torturers, sycophants, social climbers, sugar barons, millenarian vigilantes, generals and communists--the dizzying farrago of lovers and sinners who populate the country's incredible story. By the end of their project--and this breathtaking novel--the reader emerges from a world that is at once familiar and unbelievable. It's what real life might look like if both heaven and hell were crammed into it, and all its creatures were let loose.

Dark Deception


Amanda James - 2019
    Leo works part-time in London as an investment advisor to wealthy businessman, Paul Donaldson. The couple hope to start a family soon and life couldn’t be better.  But Leo has been stealing from Paul and Paul isn’t the sort of man you steal from.  When Leo realises that Paul knows what he’s done, he has no choice but to resort to drastic measures.  Meanwhile, after discovering she is pregnant, Kerensa can’t wait for her husband to return home so she can share her news. But she soon discovers he’s gone missing.  After receiving a threatening phone call from Paul, Kerensa realises how much trouble her family are in.   Just how far is Paul prepared to go to get revenge? And will Kerensa ever be happy or safe again?  Amanda James is also the bestselling author of novels including Another Mother and The Cornish Retribution. Dark Deception is a twisty and suspenseful psychological thriller which will appeal to fans of authors like C.L. Taylor, Claire McGowan and Louise Jensen.

Alexis


Dianne Harman - 2016
    With the surgery comes the realization that anything is possible from losing weight, working out, a complete makeover, a new wardrobe, to men in her life for the first time. Each step is terrifying as time after time she's forced to get out of her comfort zone because of all the changes taking place. As the Alexis package becomes more appealing it brings with it an exotic sports car, a glamorous face and body, and a chance at love. But when the ex-wife of the man she falls in love with wants to reconcile with him, Alexis' hard fought midlife victory becomes a nightmare, and she resorts to returning to what used to work for her when she didn't want to deal with her feelings - food. Is she doomed to live a life of unhappiness or is there a happy ever after for her? You can't read about Alexis' trials and tribulations without rooting for her every step of the way. Although her midlife journey forces her to come to terms with a lifetime of being overweight, her struggle of dealing with changes in midlife is one every woman will face in one form or another. This is Alexis' midlife journey.

Staying Alive


Matt Beaumont - 2004
    He’s started telling the truth at work. He’s borrowed a stack of cash from a man with a gun, a speech impediment and no grasp whatsoever of APR. He’s also taking drugs and – God help him – he’s started dancing. Badly. To trance. And now he’s on the run with a human version of Muttley and a teenage girl called Fish.Which is strange, because a few weeks ago Murray didn’t even burn the candle at one end. But when his doctors tell him he has only months to live, he gives his boring old self the boot, relaunches a new, improved Murray and falls in love with a passion he didn’t know was in him.His old self, of course, would tell him he’s digging his own grave. But he’ll be needing one of those soon enough anyway, won’t he?