Reuniting with Strangers

Reuniting with Strangers is a kaleidoscopic debut novel-in-stories that maps the separations and reconnections of diasporic Filipino families whose stories intersect with the journey of an enigmatic five-year-old named Monolith.

Vera has been dreaming for years about the day she will be reunited with her son Monolith, who has been raised by her sister in the Philippines ever since Vera moved overseas to work as a caregiver. But when he finally arrives, Monolith is violent, destructive, and unable—or unwilling?—to speak. 

Monolith and Vera weave themselves through the chapters that follow, as new characters take up the narrative, telling their own stories and providing insight into Monolith’s psyche. Incorporating a plethora of forms—emails, text messages, resumes, a songbook, an instruction manual—and traversing diverse settings scattered across Canada and the Philippines, their voices combine to form a joyful, devastating, humorous, and surprising account of the way North American reliance on Filipina caregivers has impacted families on both sides of the ocean.

Compellingly readable, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio’s stunning debut reveals the displacement, estrangement, resilience and healing in the homes and hearts of the Filipino community around the globe.