About
the Author:
J. B.
Villegas lives in Texas, where she enjoys watching her tomatoes grow. She holds
the degree, Doctor of Dental Medicine.
About
the Book:
A story of
love that was never meant to live yet refused to die … Set against the backdrop
of one of the most tragic events in Philippine history—the imposition of the
Martial Law Regime in 1972—and a seemingly innocent yet an equally enigmatic
story for children, the novel focuses on Lisa Rubio, a woman haunted by her
deprived childhood, a lost love, and a broken identity after her incarceration
during the President Marcos regime. Resolute and strong-willed, she slowly
resurrects from her bitterness and disillusionment against life’s baffling
questions, the deceit and trappings of the adult world that she learned to
despise. By excelling in academics and in her chosen career as a woman of
science, she regains a sure footing and rebuilds her shattered self. But fate
has other plans, in the person of a young man named Leo. Thus begins yet
another painful journey of her self-doubt, psychological trepidation and moral
dilemma. Lisa’s psychiatrist helps her navigate and dissect her emotional
turmoil at falling for a boy half her age. “Here is a brilliant woman who
studies the stars, who stands on the shoulders of Galileo, but peeps through
the eyes of Ichabod,” as Dr. Mores allegorically described Lisa’s person. Yet,
when despair takes her almost to the brink, salvation comes from an unexpected
stranger—Professor Justin Pullin, a man whom Lisa distrusts. With stoic calm
and gentle prudence, the professor leads Lisa through a deep introspection and
to the wisdom behind suffering that is almost too heavy for the human heart to
bear. Just when she resolves to make a right decision, a restless and
capricious fate taunts her again: a strange twist of reality brings her and Leo
together, and now that they are both adults, their restrained love is suddenly
freed and opens like a floodgate. That fateful meeting, however, proves to be
Lisa’s adamant yet ultimate act of love, a poignant redemption afforded her by
the third reason.