What It Means to Be Malaya
A Novel
What It Means To Be Malaya by Emmily
Magtalas Rhodes follows the moral and
psychological growth of Bunny, a young woman
on the brink of adulthood as she negotiates her
various relationships with her family and with
friends in school . . .
The novel is a social commentary that holds
a mirror to Philippine society, casting a critical
eye on our definition of success; obsession with
beauty contests; on beauty-enhancing products;
on Western standards of beauty and fashion;
on the advertising and PR industry; on church-
going people unaware and unmindful of the
disconnect between their religious practice and
their behavior toward other persons.
—Susan Lara,
Award-Wining Fictionist
Emmily Magtalas Rhodes is a freelance writer. She was born during Marcos-era martial law, and grew up sheltered in the suburbs of Manila, where she only caught glimpses of the political climate from newspapers, TV, and the radio. A shy child, she took refuge in books and comics, and kept a journal from a young age. A graduate of the University of the Philippines, she was also a fellow in the Silliman University National Writers Workshop, and went on to be a staff writer for Filipinas magazine, which was based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years she’s had a number of jobs, including English tutor, assistant editor in a textbook publishing house, barmaid/waitress in an English pub, fully clothed life drawing model, and various office gigs around Edinburgh, including one where she sorted files in a deep underground vault that was reputedly haunted by seventeenth-century ghosts. She currently lives in a spa town in England with her husband and two sons. When faced with a social situation, she summons courage by drinking wine. What It Means to Be Malaya is her debut novel.
