Bittersweetland

by R. Torres Pandan

After years in exile, Aaron Guillermo returns to his hometown, Bacolod City. But home is no longer the place he once knew. As he steps back onto familiar soil, he faces the sugar cane crisis on the island of Negros, his father’s growing political ambitions, and an affair that threatens to unravel their family. Thrust into a world of power, corruption, and betrayal, Aaron must navigate the ghosts of his past and the truths of his present. In a foreign and familiar land, his homecoming will change everything he knows about himself, his family, and the life he thought he left behind.

373 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only been to Bacolod once, and I miss it there. This book made me feel more connected to Bacolod and another version of it would live in my mind. The next time I'm there, this is all I'll ever think about. Such a beautiful book. I'll have Bacolod inasal for dinner tomorrow, thank you tatay ko for sending some over here in Luzon while you're at your month long work trip.

Baba wherever you are, I love you girlie and I feel for you.

I am yet to re-read the last two chapters. As someone who's from the lower middle class, my brain had some sort of stroke trying to understand what (golf) was happening.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweeping, dramatic, a novel to lose yourself in. With complex (and at times infuriating) characters and writing that seeps into your bones, this book made me homesick for Bacolod, my Bittersweetland.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very slowburn. Lowkey reminded me of Ian McEwan for some reason. A lot of parties, politicking, fancy family gatherings, and balls before it reached the story’s many turning points. The number of characters introduced immediately in the early pages were quite overwhelming … although tolerable. The prose was exquisite, had to consult the dictionary from here and then because the language is just expensive, which I guess mirrors the setting, high-society vibe, and narrative that the author was intentionally trying to build.

The banters and dialogues were very smooth and enjoying to read. I would say the book was more character-driven, and the plot, although was there, did not matter as much as the development — or should I say regress — of the main character throughout the story. The novel was able to present a clear external conflict, but instead focused on an internal one. Quite a missed opportunity???

It was equally exhausting and fascinating to follow the story and character who was so unpredictable, tender in some moments and creepily violent in the others. Haunted by ghosts and nightmares, the novel explored how a person confronts moral, personal, and spiritual scruples, negotiating his position on matters that may or may not matter to him.

In the latter pages of the novel, it felt like I was following a man slowly crashing out, fighting his own moral and mental decay. Ultimately, the ending tied everything together and I’m glad that this also turned out to be a bittersweet read.

Too bad I got to visit Bacolod months after reading this.