THE INDIOS

A historical novel that dramatizes the Philippine Revolution at the close of the 19th century.

In her fiction debut, Palileo uses the life of idealistic young seminarian Placido Mendoza to tell the tempestuous story of the Philippine Revolution. The revolt began in 1896 when a clandestine Filipino independence movement, the Katipunan, was discovered by the Philippines’ Spanish colonial overlords. Palileo uses Mendoza’s interactions with a dozen prominent figures to weave a fast-moving, complex and sprawling tale along the lines of James Clavell’s Shogun (1975) or Gary Jennings’ The Journeyer (1984). Most readers will be unfamiliar with the long-simmering tensions between the Spanish friars, who exercised ruthless power to maintain control of the colony, and the titular indios, the common people who increasingly agitated for their freedom. Mendoza is an ilustrado, a college-educated member of the native population, and in Palileo’s well-staged opening scene set in 1872, the complacency of Mendoza’s world is shattered: He watches, horrified, as one of his clerical mentors is publicly executed by order of the colonial administration. Nine-year-old Andres Bonifacio is also in the crowd; his future as a revolutionary leader is foreshadowed by his angry comment: “God is white...Jesus is white...All the saints are white...No Indio would get past San Pedro, priest or no priest.” Palileo ably intertwines Mendoza’s story with that of the growing revolutionary movement and does an excellent job of capturing the intellectual tensions that led from the first uprisings against the Spanish to the Battle of Manila Bay. She highlights not only Mendoza and his personal struggles, but also the larger-than-life Filipino Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, who tends to steal every scene he’s in. Overall, the author skillfully develops the vectors of this tangled tale, illustrating how all sides attracted equally intelligent and passionate adherents. The story ends around 1898, leaving open the attractive prospect of a sequel.

Detailed, compelling and ambitious historical fiction about the long struggle for Philippine independence.