SOURCE: Reyes, Soledad S. “Death in Life in Santos's Villa Magdalena.” In Reading Bienvenido N. Santos, edited by Isagani R. Cruz and David Jonathan Bayot, pp. 219-44. Manila, Philippines: DLSU Press, 1994.

In the following essay, which was originally a lecture delivered in 1975, Reyes examines the central themes of Villa Magdalena and places the novel within the tradition of Philippine literature in English.

In 1965, Bienvenido N. Santos published his first novel, Villa Magdalena,¹ which one critic considers a “proof of the dimension of Santos's art.” Prior to the publication of the novel, Santos had already been identified as a short story writer whose forte was re-creating vividly the plight of the Filipino expatriates in the United States. In You Lovely People and The Day the Dancers Came, he had written of Filipino exiles abroad—Ambo, Fil, Celestino Fabia, and a host of other characters estranged from the country of...