Islands of Forgotten Daughters

I so enjoyed Islands of Forgotten Daughters. It is utterly enthralling – as vivid and moving in its tracing of a family’s past as it is in its retelling of traditional tales. Montemayer entwines time, place, memory, and myth to enchanting effect, and it left me longing to know the women of my own family all the more – JESSICA J. LEE, author of Two Trees Make A ForestLush, magnetic, elegiac and absorbing, Islands of Forgotten Daughters tells the stories of women missing from traditional archives but alive in the pens of brilliant storytellers. Carla Montemayor is a writer of tremendous talent – MEGHA MOHAN, author of HerlandsSkilfully crafted and beguilingly immersive, Islands of Forgotten Daughters pays tribute to the women and the parables that keep our histories alive in the face of repeated erasures by imperial and patriarchal structures – SANTANU BHATTACHARYA, author of DeviantsIn Islands of Forgotten Daughters, Carla Montemayor unearths the hidden history of the binukot, transforming a personal search for ancestors into a powerful reclamation of Filipino identity. An important and tender act of recovery – ROMALYN ANTE, author of The Left-Behind ChildI loved Carla Montemayor’s fearless uncovering of this powerful family story… Having inherited the family’s storytelling skill, Carla Montemayor’s validation of the central matriarchal role, played throughout succeeding generations of a fading heritage, is a gift not only to those who preceded her but to every reader of this beautiful book – JULIET NICOLSON, author of FrostquakeLike the delicate pina cloth her foremothers expertly wove, Carla intertwines her own modern story with myth, history and family archive. A beautiful tale of diaspora, love and loss. Reading it felt like a trip to the lands so vividly brought to life by the author – MIRIAM GOLD, author of Elena: A Handmade LifeCarla Montemayor journeys deep into her family’s secret story that demands remembering. Her voice is beautiful, powerful and unforgettable – CANDY GOURLAY, author of Wild Song

Carla Montemayor is a writer originally from the Philippines, now based in London. She won a London Writers Award for narrative nonfiction in 2021 and was a fellow on the London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2022-23. Her writing has been shortlisted for Spread the Word’s Life Writing Award (2020), and the Specimen Press competition To Speak England in Different Languages (2021). She has contributed work to acclaimed food writing anthology London Feeds Itself (2022), and her essay ‘The Shapeshifters’ in Hinterland Magazine was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021.

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