Filipino-American Christina "Ting" Klein has just traveled from New York to Manila, both to escape her imminent divorce and to begin research for a biography of Timicheg, an indigenous Filipino brought to America at the start of the twentieth century to be exhibited as part of a "human zoo." It has been a year since Ting's last visit, and one year since Procopio "Copo" Gumboc swept the elections in an upset and took power as president . . . As days pass, Ting witnesses modern Filipino society languishing under Gumboc's terrifying reign. To make her way, she must balance the aristocratic traditions of her extended family, seemingly at odds with both situation and circumstance, as well as temper her stance toward a regime her loved ones are struggling to survive.
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