Wildflowers

by Beverly Parayno

Nominated and shortlisted for the 43rd Annual Northern California Book Awards

In these nine unforgettable stories, spanning several generations and traversing the Philippines, the Bay Area, and Ireland, Parayno illuminates the emotional and psychological journeys of Filipino and Filipino American girls and women experiencing fear, desire, loneliness, and despair. Wildflowers speaks to everyone who has ever had to find a strength and resiliency they never knew they had.

Genres: Short Stories

213 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2023

Reviews

[Tamim Ansary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parayno writes with authority: her understated language somehow intensifies the sense of dislocation, solitude, and longing in these nine poignant stories. The first one is from a child's point of view; each subsequent story drops you into the life of a Filipino woman somewhere between her twenties and forties, caught in a situation that doesn't bode well. The stories move toward a sort of reconciliation finally, but the underlying darkness lets you know: reconciliation is always provisional, resolution always fragile.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This accessible collection of stories amplifies the voices of girls and women striving to be heard as they wrestle with relationships, insecurities, passions and fears. An awkward first kiss, the experience of racism while studying overseas, and the dodgy sale of ancestral lands are backdrops for Parayno’s clear and lucid prose which transports the reader across familiar yet foreign landscapes and experiences. An exciting new voice with important and interesting stories to tell.

[Ellie Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege to hear Beverly read parts of Wildflowers at an event and WHAT A STORYTELLER. I had been super stoked to read this and fell in love with each story and felt like I was watching several families and cultures intertwine in a beautiful web of lore, love, ancestry, and breaking generational curses. If Netflix is reading I’d love to see this as a Netflix series, it reads beautifully as one.

[Patty Enrado · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished reading Beverly Parayno's terrific collection of stories, I realized that the title, Wildflowers, while taken from one of the stories, reflects all 9 stories. The female protagonists are in difficult situations - physical, emotional, mental, and socio-economic hardships - and often barren landscapes. And yet, like wildflowers, they persist regardless of where the story ends on the page; you know they will grow from their epiphanies, which are gifts not only to them but to us, the reader. Parayno's prose is tight but muscular and straightforward but full of heart. You care about these protagonists and are invested in them. I'll admit that I felt despairing of their situations, but Parayno has given them and we the readers hope. I'm looking forward to reading her memoir.

[Jacob Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is challenging, unflinching, and rich with the experiences of the Filipino diaspora. The stories feature women of a variety of ages surviving and fighting against forces out of their control. My personal favorite was "Victory Joe", a meditation on the struggle of a mother that barely survived the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. The language and prose are very accessible, but Parayno writes in several different voices very well. It is no small feat to embody young girls and middle aged women so convincingly. I highly recommend this collection.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read. I savored each story and I was genuinely sad to finish it. It’s honest and poignant without being pretentious. I know this will be one of those rare books I read again and again and again.

[mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books i’ve read all year - succinct yet thoughtful prose & moving plotlines made these short stories addicting.

[Rachielle Sheffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love about Wildflowers:

Cover design:

I was struck by the beauty of this book, starting from the smooth cover to the quality of the paper. The font is a good size for my poor eyes. The book sits in my hand, a perfect fit. The cover is illustrated by Peter Selgin, wildflowers against a black background, setting the mood for the book. The image that drew my eye was the California poppy. They are abundant in my garden in summer, needing little care but plenty of sunshine. The pods change from green to brown, and pop seeds into the wind when mature, propagating the cycle into the next year.

Back Cover:

Pleasant layout with summary (missing in many books these days), author bio and photo, and praise by esteemed writers Grace Talusan (The Body Papers), Aileen Cassinetto (Dear Human at the Edge of Time), Lysley Tenorio (Monstress, 2014 One Book One San Diego selection) and Olga Zilberbourg (Like Water and Other Stories). I love the PAWA Press logo, which combines the letters PA and WA in the precolonial Philippine Baybayin script.

Overall Impressions:

Each of the nine short stories in this collection is a seed thrown to the wind. Like this seed, the characters must scrabble to survive in the wilderness of the human heart and oppressive or perplexing circumstances. They are wildflowers that take root and embody fragility in a rugged environment. Despite harsh circumstances, there is a glimmer of sunshine.

Beverly mines the vein of hope in each one, no matter how thin. She does not tie the story in a neat package but leaves the reader to imagine how the characters will bloom.

Who will like this book?

Readers of Danton Remoto’s Riverrun and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth will probably like this collection of short stories.

[Danica Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost every single one of these stories made me cry in a good way; illuminated an insight that I have had but have never read anyone else articulate; made me remember why I love reading. I will name the shared reality I have with the author: I am Filipino-American and of the same Gen X generation as Beverly Parayno, so that may explain a fair amount of the resonance I felt. It was so heartening to read these stories about the Filipina experience in particular, what with our intersectionality within East-West, colonialism, color politics and the like. But above and beyond any overlap in our identities, these stories were beautiful, powerful and poignant. I found myself dog-earing a page in pretty much every story, struck as I was by incisive observations and minor asides that touched some deep part of me. It feels like now is the time for Fil-Am literary voices (& other artists) to rise even higher. We have always been here, and I have wondered when we would stop being invisible side characters in other people's stories. Beverly Parayno bridges an awareness of that sidelined past with a boldness that feels so right and very "of the moment." I look forward to more evocative words of wisdom from the author.

[Olga Zilberbourg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was honored to provide a blurb for this book. Here's what I wrote: Once in a decade, California desert regales us with a superbloom. Wildflower seeds lie dormant in the ground, waiting for the right amount of moisture, wind, and shade to germinate. Unpretentious on their own, golden poppies, bluebells, and brittlebush are astonishing when they blossom all together at one and the same time. Such are characters in Beverly Parayno’s stories: Tender and hardy, each flourishes in the most unlikely circumstances. In this collection, they are spellbinding, unforgettable.

[K. Wergland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this book! It's beautiful, sharp and tough, the kind of book that opens the door between worlds and throws you a lifeline. You could say it's about poverty, abuse, immigration, racism, and art, but that doesn’t sum it up. All I can say is that if you've ever been lonely, if you've ever been abused, if you've ever been stuck in the wrong relationship, if the pressures on your family have ever been too much, grab this book. It gave me such a pang. And a sharp intake of breath. And heart tingles.

[Jasmine Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a "blind date". The reason I got this blind book date was because it had "emotional/sad" as a descriptor. During that time, I remember I've been wanting a book that would make me cry. I wasn't expecting in the first story to proceed to cry my soul out and need a long hot bath where im spacing in and out of dissociative state with the lights turned off. Only to bring me back to a normal emotional state 😂...

Wonderful, powerful, full of emotion. My favorite story was, of course, Wilflowers, and I cried with this one as well. What a surprise...

[Aushawna Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider myself a slow reader, but I devoured this in a single day.

I picked up an autographed copy of this book at my local bookstore on a whim. The stories are so well written, each word feeling so intently curated. I don’t know much about Filipino culture, yet I felt fully engrossed in the worlds Beverly created. These stories are so evidently told from the heart that I found myself hugging my copy at the end.

Thank you Beverly for sharing a bit of yourself with the world.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thoughtful selection of short stories.

i think that i struggled to find cohesion between them, but i think that looseneds may have been intentional. i saw recurring theme of distant and abusive fatherhood, worrying about one's place in the world, troubled relationships, alongside other things. i appreciate how bold and unafraid they were in handling difficult and taboo topics.

don't have super solid thoughts on them, but i found this to be an interesting read.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful collection of short stories was thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down! I loved the beautiful use of language and the characters and situations were unique and yet they resonated. I had much empathy for these mostly young women and girl narrators trying to make their way in a confusing world. Stories are set in the US and in the Philippines.

[Annette M. Carasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beverly’s book is such a wonderful read. She shines a light on the experiences of first and second generation children of immigrants from Philippines. Her prose are rich in detail and she expresses beautifully the experience of people who live with one foot in both worlds. The “old” world of their parents and the world they were born into or have lived in since they were very young.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut collection by writer Beverly Parayno permeates the landscapes of geography and emotion; each merging into wildflowers of conflict, contradictions and finally, understanding and reconciliation. An excellent read by a gifted writer.

[Monica Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing book. Coming from the Bay Area, I could easily relate to these stories. The details and visions are so well thought out. I really enjoyed this book.