After a few months of reading a chapter or two during my ‘pockets of freetime,’ upon waking up, before sleeping or during lunch time at work, and during brief stops in my recent Ilocos trip, I finally finished reading last weekend the novel “Banana Heart Summer.” My heart reeled with emotions – joy, sadness, grief, and my stomach is missing a lot of snacks and recipes that warm the heart and bring back childhood memories.
The author, Merlinda Bobis, is a Bicolana, something that I surmised from reading the first two (2) chapters of the book. It is my first novel of this author, and it was on a sudden urge that I chose this book among many when I visited Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Baguio City in November last year.
Told from the point of view of Nenita or Nining, a young girl who is the first born of six (6) children in a poor family in the province in the 1960’s, the novel is refreshing, bittersweet, innocent, and hopeful. Raised in a small house on Remedios street with a huge church on one end and with a towering volcano in the other, she was the observer and the witness of the comings and goings in the town, of the sweet stories, of the mini scandals, and of the tragedies that happened.
Through Nining’s eyes, one cannot help but love Nana Dora and her afternoon delicacies, adore Ms. VV’s sweetness, have a crush on Manolito, pity Chi-chi and Bebet, be curious about Boy Hapon, be sympathetic to the Calcium man, and be thrilled by the love story between Juanito Guwapito and Tiya Miling. Through her observations, we can hear Basilio Profundo’s low enticing voice, Mr. Alano’s Roy Orbison singing, see the smooth skin of Ms. Ching, feel the love of Gable for his children, see the lovely features of Nining’s mother though hardened by poverty and childbirth, see the redness of Ralph’s skin and feel the pain of the slaps and hits Nining and her siblings suffered from their mother.
Each chapter features a dish, a story, a twist. Your palate relishes the meal; your curiosity is whetted by the story; and the twists enthrall you as the loose ends become clear as the novel progresses. You can taste the creamy smoky coconut chicken, chewy biniribid, just-right sweet biko, the flavorful bittermelon with eggs, and the sour green mango salad. Each dish is interwoven with the story.
“Banana Heart Summer” is a coming-of-age story. It delves on the world of Nining, her love for cooking and her longing to be a good daughter to her mom and a responsible Ate to her siblings. It navigates her ideas and emotions in a small town, in fact, a street, where lives interweave. What shines throughout the story is Nining’s good heart, her natural curiousity, her affinity towards her neighbors, and her desire to help her family through cooking.
The novel shows Nining’s predicament as the eldest in a brood of a struggling family barely making ends meet. As a 12 year old, she has too many worries a girl her age has to endure. She dropped out of school wanting to spend her time trying new recipes. Working at Ms. VV’s place proved to be ideal as she is able to cook to her heart’s content and earn some money. Her mother, far from providing the love and emotional support she needed is the cause of some of her misery. Her father, emasculated by the lack of economic capability to provide even the basic needs of the family, is a voiceless presence in the novel. However, his love for his wife and children is obvious, as symbolized by tiny details — the different-colored stones for the children, the American corned beef, his endearments, his pleadings to his wife to please not hit Nining’s face, and so on.
Nining’s travails are lightened by her generous heart and kind nature — her empathy for the Calcium man, her love for her siblings, her effort to understand her mother instead of resenting her, her genuine concern for her friends, her incapability of bearing a grudge on anyone, and her incapacity to judge anyone harshly. These shielded her, unfortunately not from her mother’s heavy hand, but from being depressed and jaded by all life’s difficulties at a young age. The novel has some heavy themes made light by the storytelling manner — suicide, unplanned pregnancy, extreme poverty, unexplainable hunger.
A major theme of the novel is hunger. This is eloquently and beautifully expressed by this myth from Nana Dora, which was taken to heart by Nining in her desire to appease her family’s hunger:
“Close to midnight, when the heart bows from its stem, wait for its first dew. It will drop like a gem. Catch it with your tongue. When you eat the heart of the matter, you’ll never grow hungry again.”
As a former teacher, allow me to share some ideas for possible class activities. I can think of this list of themes that may be used in discussing this novel with students (these are my personal suggestions and not based from a vetted educational list):
- Dynamics of the Filipino Family
- Life in the Province vs. Life in the City
- Addressing poverty and hunger in the society
- Addressing corruption in the government
- Education is a right; not a privilege
- Marriage – is love enough?
- Proper ubringing of children
- The gap between the rich and poor in the society
- Resilience of the common people
- The importance of food security
- Promoting Philippine cuisine
- Common traits among Filipinos
- Embracing weirdness around us
- The precariousness of youth
- The travails of parenthood
Furthermore, there are scenes in the novel that are forever etched in memory and may be a focus of a class activity like a short play starting/ending with a tableau or if the class is creative, a short musical:
- Nining’s conversation with Manoling ending with her encounter with Manolito’s porcelain-skinned mom (oh so kilig)
- Nining’s fall from Boy Hapon’s tree (hilarious)
- Gable’s (the dad) bringing home the stones for her children
- Nining’s conversations with Nana Dora at the latter’s turon stand (heartfelt, philosophical)
- The siblings out in the rain after the death of the youngest child (heart-wrenching)
- The corned beef episode at Nining’s house (saddening)
- The part where her mother finally called Nining her first born and wished her well
I will also add this list of lessons from the book, observing that this is a fairly common practice among pages or websites featuring books:
- Know what your dream in life is; Follow it.
- Have harmonious relations with your family members and neighbors.
- Respect and understand your parents.
- Find time for the things that make you happy.
- Have empathy with others who are experiencing difficulty.
- Be fully present at mealtimes.
- Tough times do not last; persevere.
Overall, “Banana Heart Summer” is an excellent novel. It’s written in a style that relatable and easy to read. It has a storyline that’s easy to follow, made more interesting by plot twists. For Bicolanos and Bicolanas, this would be a bittersweet novel, bringing back memories of food in the province and the bonding with people who are now either far away or have left the world.
For Filipinos, this novel is a testament to the richness of Philippine flavors and cuisine. To the youth, this novel is a reminder of the innocence and sweet discovery of emotions and an awakening to the realities of life. To adults, reading this novel is a respite, a reminder of youth, a trip down memory lane.
Beyond Routes 