A HUNDRED SILENT WAYS

A woman reconnects with her roots and a handsome stranger in this debut novel.

After her husband, Kyle McDowell,tells her that he wants a divorce, Kate Pineda finds herself boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Manila. It was there that she grew up, before her Filipino parents immigrated to California and before her father abandoned the family to return to the Philippines. When her connection is delayed by weather, Kate meets Liam, a handsome man who can’t hear and communicates with her via a texting app as they wander the airport together. Although he is clearly smitten with her and Kate can’t deny her interest in him, she tries to put him out of her mind as she seeks solace and reconciliation in the city of her birth. As she reconnects with her father and his new girlfriend in their tiny apartment, she simultaneously recounts how she met Kyle 10 years earlier, their tumultuous young love, her unexpected pregnancy, and the terrible tragedy that eventually doomed their marriage. Secrets from the past start to reveal themselves in present-day Manila, however, and Kate finds herself running to the arms of the kind Liam to escape both of their troubles. Little do they know that their budding romance will follow them back home, where more surprises await. Jojie’s bittersweet romance offers up some clever spins on the classic meet-cute while also effectively tackling themes of communication, place, and family. But what starts out as a clever trans-Pacific soap opera gets weighed down by a devastating reveal; finally knowing Kate’s haunting tragedy enriches her character, but it also takes much of the fun out of the book’s later twists. This jarring tone shift is buoyed, however, by Jojie’s mastery of Kate’s inner monologue—even when she has thoughts that seem irrational, readers will be firmly on her side—and the secondary characters are entertaining and diverse.

A smart romance that shows great promise despite a sudden turn into tear-jerker territory.