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Lolas' House: Filipino Women Living with War
During World War II more than one thousand Filipinas were kidnapped by the Imperial Japanese Army. Lolas’ House tells the stories of sixteen surviving Filipino “comfort women.”
M. Evelina Galang enters into the lives of the women at Lolas’ House, a community center in metro Manila. She accompanies them to the sites of their abduction and protests with them at the gates of the Japanese embassy. Each woman gives her testimony, and even though the women relive their horror at each telling, they offer their stories so that no woman anywhere should suffer wartime rape and torture.
Lolas’ House is a book of testimony, but it is also a book of witness, of survival, and of the female body. Intensely personal and globally political, it is the legacy of Lolas’ House to the world.
M. Evelina Galang enters into the lives of the women at Lolas’ House, a community center in metro Manila. She accompanies them to the sites of their abduction and protests with them at the gates of the Japanese embassy. Each woman gives her testimony, and even though the women relive their horror at each telling, they offer their stories so that no woman anywhere should suffer wartime rape and torture.
Lolas’ House is a book of testimony, but it is also a book of witness, of survival, and of the female body. Intensely personal and globally political, it is the legacy of Lolas’ House to the world.
280 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2017
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July 16, 2017
This is a very moving account of the author’s collection of first-person stories of Filipina women who were subject to sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War 2. The stories themselves takes a lot out of the reader, but the healing effect of having them heard after 60 years of being buried in their souls was so uplifting the experience. That the institutionalized brothels of “comfort women” by the Japanese military involved kidnapping, rape, and effective slavery for more than 200,000 women and girls throughout the Pacific theater of the war only came to light in the 90’s is deeply disturbing. Galang’s work contributes importantly to the efforts of survivors to get an official state apology, reparations, and inclusion of the policy and practice into the education provided for the public for the benefit of future generations.
Galang is a Filipina American who first heard some of the stories of abuse from the elderly lolas (grandmothers) when she came to Manila in 1998 on a project for her TV production work. Given the limited work on documenting testimonies from the victims, then in their 70s and 80s, she obtained a Fulbright fellowship to pursue this work in 2001-2002. Her method was slowly forge trust with the women who had held their secrets in shame for so long. Of the thousand or so women identified as victims, 124 came forward to various investigators to in some way reveal their experiences, and among these Galang worked in-depth with 14 of them. A building and center dedicated to such work under foundation funding served as a base of operations. Galang’s strategy was to bring teen-aged girls into listening circles with the lolas in order to make their accounts serve as a message across the generations. She travelled with the lolas to the communities of the Philippine islands where they lived at the time of their abduction and the sites where they were abused and slaved. Only when the women were ready did she subject them to a formal interview on camera.
The reader needs this slow process to be able to deal with their stories. The author’s initial difficulties with understanding their language buffered her somewhat from experiencing too directly much of their trauma herself, leading her to the healing power of communication by touch:
Mostly, the experience of recording these testimonies was visceral. My Tagalog eventually straightened itself out and their English found meaning, but in the beginning we spoke with our hands. The kwentos [stories] of the lolas were written on the spines of their backs. Often, they guided my fingers to their wounds. I read them, slowly, tentatively, my touch light and respectful. Unlike broken sentences of English and Tagalog and Waray, the scars needed no translation.
I set my hand at the base of an old woman’s spine, or in the hollow between her breasts, or in the meat of a calf. The tips of my fingers examined the shape of a scar, the size of a bump, its density. A cigarette urn. A bayonet wound. A crooked finger. My skin absorbed the memory and I whispered, “Yes, Lola. I know, Lola.” Together we searched for her lost voice. Was it here in her chest, was it embedded in the thigh, was it stuck in the throat or weighed down in the belly? We strained to hear and we were hoping to set that calamity free, to stop it from happening again.
Some women after the war found support and empathy from their families. But sadly, in many cases, their family and community failed to understand and held them blameworthy somehow for submitting to their abuse. One has to read between the lines to feel the horror of this muted account:
When they found my mister, they brought him and the boy before me. He looked at me for a long time and I waited for him to embrace me, but he did not.
“I thought you had died,” he told me. I shook my head. I cried. I waited. Nothing. I explained to him what had happened and when he spoke, his voice was bitter.
…My mister took me home, but he did not forgive me.
Eventually, Galang and the reader cross the threshold to the worst of the stories. In one, we hear of how a twelve-year old experienced a home invasion by soldiers, the skinning alive of her father, and the bayonetting of her infant siblings. It seems impossible she could still exist after this and then go on to being brutally raped and then be subject to months of being raped by dozens nightly and slave work, beatings, and near starvation by day. No one can really digest these words. Many of Galang’s translators quit. She herself was laid low by incorporating the stories into her being. Meditation, dancing, and song provided some mitigation. Marching with protesters for official government demands from Japan for formal acknowledgement and reparations was another outlet. We can only guess that the psychological burden on Galang might have something to do with why it took so long for this book to be completed. No wonder she herself was so shaken by the mysterious suicide of Iris Chang in 2004 in the aftermath of completing her book on the mass slaughter and raping in Shanghai in 1937-38:
…I cannot help myself. I mourn. She was a daughter of Chinese immigrants, an American writer who went abroad to document the narratives of those Chinese survivors of the Nanking Massacre for her book The Rape of Nanking. I can never know what happened, but I can only imagine how she felt. I know what it means to be born an American of immigrant parents, and to return to that homeland to hear the stories of wartime rape and torture on your elders, to feel the drive to right that wrong. To make a promise to see that justice done in the face of the impossible. Even if your only weapons are words, are testimonies, are stories.
I render four stars instead of five only because of some limitations in the organization of the presentation and scope of its inquiry. You won’t get from the reading an examination of the origins and causes of war crimes against women as Chang provided in her “The Rape of Nanking.” Nor does the reader get a detailed perspective on the fruitful work of individuals and organizations to stop the sexual slavery of girls today, as was so effectively provided by Kristof and WuDunn in their “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.” But as a reader we do get the opportunity for the first step bearing witness to the individual tragedies that resulted from an otherwise faceless horrific policy:
These women believed telling their stories would keep their daughters and granddaughters safe. They had faith that their fight for just compensation, an apology, and documentation in history books would keep this story from happening again.
That apology has yet to come. Government compensation to all “comfort women” has not been paid. And perhaps worst of all, the Japanese government has done its best to erase the women from our communal memory. Such stories repeat themselves even today. See it in Bosnia. See it in Syria. See it in the Congo.
For more perspective on the history of “comfort women” throughout the Pacific region of Japanese occupation and the politics behind the progress toward official government recognition, I refer you to the excellent Wikipedia account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort... . For a brief video of Galang engaging the prospective reader of the book, see: YouTube clip.
Galang is a Filipina American who first heard some of the stories of abuse from the elderly lolas (grandmothers) when she came to Manila in 1998 on a project for her TV production work. Given the limited work on documenting testimonies from the victims, then in their 70s and 80s, she obtained a Fulbright fellowship to pursue this work in 2001-2002. Her method was slowly forge trust with the women who had held their secrets in shame for so long. Of the thousand or so women identified as victims, 124 came forward to various investigators to in some way reveal their experiences, and among these Galang worked in-depth with 14 of them. A building and center dedicated to such work under foundation funding served as a base of operations. Galang’s strategy was to bring teen-aged girls into listening circles with the lolas in order to make their accounts serve as a message across the generations. She travelled with the lolas to the communities of the Philippine islands where they lived at the time of their abduction and the sites where they were abused and slaved. Only when the women were ready did she subject them to a formal interview on camera.
The reader needs this slow process to be able to deal with their stories. The author’s initial difficulties with understanding their language buffered her somewhat from experiencing too directly much of their trauma herself, leading her to the healing power of communication by touch:
Mostly, the experience of recording these testimonies was visceral. My Tagalog eventually straightened itself out and their English found meaning, but in the beginning we spoke with our hands. The kwentos [stories] of the lolas were written on the spines of their backs. Often, they guided my fingers to their wounds. I read them, slowly, tentatively, my touch light and respectful. Unlike broken sentences of English and Tagalog and Waray, the scars needed no translation.
I set my hand at the base of an old woman’s spine, or in the hollow between her breasts, or in the meat of a calf. The tips of my fingers examined the shape of a scar, the size of a bump, its density. A cigarette urn. A bayonet wound. A crooked finger. My skin absorbed the memory and I whispered, “Yes, Lola. I know, Lola.” Together we searched for her lost voice. Was it here in her chest, was it embedded in the thigh, was it stuck in the throat or weighed down in the belly? We strained to hear and we were hoping to set that calamity free, to stop it from happening again.
Some women after the war found support and empathy from their families. But sadly, in many cases, their family and community failed to understand and held them blameworthy somehow for submitting to their abuse. One has to read between the lines to feel the horror of this muted account:
When they found my mister, they brought him and the boy before me. He looked at me for a long time and I waited for him to embrace me, but he did not.
“I thought you had died,” he told me. I shook my head. I cried. I waited. Nothing. I explained to him what had happened and when he spoke, his voice was bitter.
…My mister took me home, but he did not forgive me.
Eventually, Galang and the reader cross the threshold to the worst of the stories. In one, we hear of how a twelve-year old experienced a home invasion by soldiers, the skinning alive of her father, and the bayonetting of her infant siblings. It seems impossible she could still exist after this and then go on to being brutally raped and then be subject to months of being raped by dozens nightly and slave work, beatings, and near starvation by day. No one can really digest these words. Many of Galang’s translators quit. She herself was laid low by incorporating the stories into her being. Meditation, dancing, and song provided some mitigation. Marching with protesters for official government demands from Japan for formal acknowledgement and reparations was another outlet. We can only guess that the psychological burden on Galang might have something to do with why it took so long for this book to be completed. No wonder she herself was so shaken by the mysterious suicide of Iris Chang in 2004 in the aftermath of completing her book on the mass slaughter and raping in Shanghai in 1937-38:
…I cannot help myself. I mourn. She was a daughter of Chinese immigrants, an American writer who went abroad to document the narratives of those Chinese survivors of the Nanking Massacre for her book The Rape of Nanking. I can never know what happened, but I can only imagine how she felt. I know what it means to be born an American of immigrant parents, and to return to that homeland to hear the stories of wartime rape and torture on your elders, to feel the drive to right that wrong. To make a promise to see that justice done in the face of the impossible. Even if your only weapons are words, are testimonies, are stories.
I render four stars instead of five only because of some limitations in the organization of the presentation and scope of its inquiry. You won’t get from the reading an examination of the origins and causes of war crimes against women as Chang provided in her “The Rape of Nanking.” Nor does the reader get a detailed perspective on the fruitful work of individuals and organizations to stop the sexual slavery of girls today, as was so effectively provided by Kristof and WuDunn in their “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.” But as a reader we do get the opportunity for the first step bearing witness to the individual tragedies that resulted from an otherwise faceless horrific policy:
These women believed telling their stories would keep their daughters and granddaughters safe. They had faith that their fight for just compensation, an apology, and documentation in history books would keep this story from happening again.
That apology has yet to come. Government compensation to all “comfort women” has not been paid. And perhaps worst of all, the Japanese government has done its best to erase the women from our communal memory. Such stories repeat themselves even today. See it in Bosnia. See it in Syria. See it in the Congo.
For more perspective on the history of “comfort women” throughout the Pacific region of Japanese occupation and the politics behind the progress toward official government recognition, I refer you to the excellent Wikipedia account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort... . For a brief video of Galang engaging the prospective reader of the book, see: YouTube clip.
June 15, 2017
I received an ARE of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.
We are immersed in paragraphs and passages which describe Filipino women's memories of their experience during the Second World War, when the Filipines was invaded by the Japanese.
We read of abductions into sexual slavery, the witnessing of atrocities against their family members, the witnessing of rape and torture of other women and young girls in the 'camps' set up by the invading Japanese army.
The author is a researcher and she mixes passages from the survivors, with her own impressions of them and of their lives currently at Lola's House, where the women meet after a campaign to 'out' the atrocities of the war, supported by the Filipino media and international women's organisations.
The author, herself with Filipino ancestry, is clearly moved by the women and their lives. When she first goes to interview the women, she takes with her several young American girls who befriend the survivors and we also see the reactions of these young girls. I found this mix riveting and we really experience the girls' view of the women.
The survivors accounts are horrific.
They are told by women now in their eighties and nineties, many of whom had never told their family members what they suffered. They kept their experiences a secret because of the shame piled on them by society after the war.
This was made more complicated (I understand) by the fact that many villagers fought as guerrillas and fled to the mountains, whereas the camps were in the cities and urban areas full of Japanese (therefore there were few actual Filipino witnesses who were not either imprisoned themselves or collaborators).
At the end of this book, I felt the most sadness over the fact that the women's hopes and campaigning for an official apology from the Japanese government, have not been realised - even after years of fighting for justice and with the backing of the US Senate.
The women are so old, there will be few left soon.
I found their courage in the telling of their stories deeply moving.
I was glad to be an honest witness to their experiences and felt the reading of the book to be an act of solidarity - in defiance of the lack of political will to recognise how terribly these women suffered at the time and then throughout their lives in the silence.
I also could not help thinking of the Japanese perpetrators and whether any of them are still alive. Since most of the women were abducted when they were young (12, 13, 14 years old...) and the soldiers were older then I suppose this is unlikely.
The photographs in the book make each of the women more real.
Congratulations to the author for her work in documenting these important stories.
I give this book 5 stars for the women's stories.
I dropped it to 4 stars because of the style of documenting, in which the experiences are mixed in with reflections, campaigning, visits to the women's home villages - but this was not done in a linear manner and made it a little difficult at times to follow the threads.
The women felt very real to me and this is a book that will stay in my mind for a long time.
We are immersed in paragraphs and passages which describe Filipino women's memories of their experience during the Second World War, when the Filipines was invaded by the Japanese.
We read of abductions into sexual slavery, the witnessing of atrocities against their family members, the witnessing of rape and torture of other women and young girls in the 'camps' set up by the invading Japanese army.
The author is a researcher and she mixes passages from the survivors, with her own impressions of them and of their lives currently at Lola's House, where the women meet after a campaign to 'out' the atrocities of the war, supported by the Filipino media and international women's organisations.
The author, herself with Filipino ancestry, is clearly moved by the women and their lives. When she first goes to interview the women, she takes with her several young American girls who befriend the survivors and we also see the reactions of these young girls. I found this mix riveting and we really experience the girls' view of the women.
The survivors accounts are horrific.
They are told by women now in their eighties and nineties, many of whom had never told their family members what they suffered. They kept their experiences a secret because of the shame piled on them by society after the war.
This was made more complicated (I understand) by the fact that many villagers fought as guerrillas and fled to the mountains, whereas the camps were in the cities and urban areas full of Japanese (therefore there were few actual Filipino witnesses who were not either imprisoned themselves or collaborators).
At the end of this book, I felt the most sadness over the fact that the women's hopes and campaigning for an official apology from the Japanese government, have not been realised - even after years of fighting for justice and with the backing of the US Senate.
The women are so old, there will be few left soon.
I found their courage in the telling of their stories deeply moving.
I was glad to be an honest witness to their experiences and felt the reading of the book to be an act of solidarity - in defiance of the lack of political will to recognise how terribly these women suffered at the time and then throughout their lives in the silence.
I also could not help thinking of the Japanese perpetrators and whether any of them are still alive. Since most of the women were abducted when they were young (12, 13, 14 years old...) and the soldiers were older then I suppose this is unlikely.
The photographs in the book make each of the women more real.
Congratulations to the author for her work in documenting these important stories.
I give this book 5 stars for the women's stories.
I dropped it to 4 stars because of the style of documenting, in which the experiences are mixed in with reflections, campaigning, visits to the women's home villages - but this was not done in a linear manner and made it a little difficult at times to follow the threads.
The women felt very real to me and this is a book that will stay in my mind for a long time.
October 21, 2021
“This issue is about the perpetual abuse of women in war— at home and abroad, between nations, among communities, and within families. This is about women and their bodies. Who has a right to them? Who protects them? Who honors them and who denies them? It is about that dignity that is torn from each girl, each woman, each nation’s daughter, every time she is taken against her will, violated, and left for dead.”
This book documents the stories of 16 surviving Filipino “comfort women” who were kidnapped, beaten, and brutally raped by the Japanese army in WW2. This is only 16 stories of over 1000 Filipino girls and women— some as young as 12– and over 4000 victims in Asia overall about the terror many Japanese soldiers caused so many people. I’ve never read a nonfiction account on war before this one and it has opened my eyes even more to how war affects so many innocent people. I highly recommend this read, no matter how difficult at times, because the stories that the Japanese government has tried so hard to cover up have the right to be heard.
This book documents the stories of 16 surviving Filipino “comfort women” who were kidnapped, beaten, and brutally raped by the Japanese army in WW2. This is only 16 stories of over 1000 Filipino girls and women— some as young as 12– and over 4000 victims in Asia overall about the terror many Japanese soldiers caused so many people. I’ve never read a nonfiction account on war before this one and it has opened my eyes even more to how war affects so many innocent people. I highly recommend this read, no matter how difficult at times, because the stories that the Japanese government has tried so hard to cover up have the right to be heard.
September 15, 2017
During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army forced over 400,000 women into sexual slavery; though the Korean comfort women have been recognized for a long time, the survivors in the Philippines lived with the trauma and appalling social stigmatization for decades, unheard. Recently 173 of them, now very elderly, filed suit against the Japanese government. This collection includes interviews with 16 Filipina women whose lives were ruined by this atrocity. Thanks go to Net Galley and Northwestern University Press for the DRC, which I received early and free in exchange for this honest review. The collection is for sale now.
This is a rough read, hard to push through for the very thing that makes it valuable: it tells the women’s experiences in their own words. And they want to be heard. For decades, nobody, including their own families, has been willing to listen to them. After experiencing cruel, sadistic torture, they were greeted, upon the army’s departure, as social pariahs. Their countrymen let them know that nobody wants anything to do with a woman that’s been touched, penetrated, harmed in many unspeakable ways by the Japanese. They were called “Japanese leftovers.” Thus, their nightmare at the hands of the enemy was worsened by a subsequent nightmare at the hands of those they thought would console them.
And so as you can imagine, it’s not an enjoyable book. It isn’t intended to be.
Galang is also Filipina, and she weaves her own story in with that of her subjects. I would have preferred that she restrict herself to the topic; whereas including her own memoir may be cathartic, it also slows the pace. There are also snippets of untranslated Tagalog, and although this may resonate for those that are bilingual, context didn’t make the passages clear much of the time, and so I was left with the choice to either run to my desktop, type in the passages, translate them and return to the text, or just skip them and read on. It didn’t take me long to decide on the latter.
So as a general read for the lover of history, I can’t recommend this book, but for the researcher, it’s a gold mine. There is information here that you won’t find anywhere else. There are primary documents end to end here. I can imagine any number of thesis topics for which this work would be pivotal.
For the researcher, this is a four star read.
This is a rough read, hard to push through for the very thing that makes it valuable: it tells the women’s experiences in their own words. And they want to be heard. For decades, nobody, including their own families, has been willing to listen to them. After experiencing cruel, sadistic torture, they were greeted, upon the army’s departure, as social pariahs. Their countrymen let them know that nobody wants anything to do with a woman that’s been touched, penetrated, harmed in many unspeakable ways by the Japanese. They were called “Japanese leftovers.” Thus, their nightmare at the hands of the enemy was worsened by a subsequent nightmare at the hands of those they thought would console them.
And so as you can imagine, it’s not an enjoyable book. It isn’t intended to be.
Galang is also Filipina, and she weaves her own story in with that of her subjects. I would have preferred that she restrict herself to the topic; whereas including her own memoir may be cathartic, it also slows the pace. There are also snippets of untranslated Tagalog, and although this may resonate for those that are bilingual, context didn’t make the passages clear much of the time, and so I was left with the choice to either run to my desktop, type in the passages, translate them and return to the text, or just skip them and read on. It didn’t take me long to decide on the latter.
So as a general read for the lover of history, I can’t recommend this book, but for the researcher, it’s a gold mine. There is information here that you won’t find anywhere else. There are primary documents end to end here. I can imagine any number of thesis topics for which this work would be pivotal.
For the researcher, this is a four star read.
December 26, 2017
A searing account from sixteen Filipina survivors of the war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army against them.
Cont'd on the blog: https://paperwanderer.wordpress.com/2...
Cont'd on the blog: https://paperwanderer.wordpress.com/2...
July 20, 2017
Content Warning: This book contains explicit descriptions of rape and torture that could be triggering to some survivors.
Lolas' House is part history book, part memoir, and part biography. Eveline Galang interviews sixteen women who survived imprisonment as Japanese "comfort women" during World War II. These "women" were most often young girls, barely teenagers, stolen off the streets while running errands with siblings. They watched as parents, siblings, and spouses were tortured and murdered before they themselves are hauled away and forced into sexual slavery.
Galang mingles her own personal narrative with the testimonies of the survivors and the history of Filipino life during WWII. It is impossible to not be moved by the strength of these women. They have experienced the worst that humanity has to offer. Not only were they stolen from their homes as children but after daily rapes and slavery, many were rejected by their families upon their return. Yet, the women pushed on and now as very old women, they are fighting the Japanese government.
The only real issue with the book is that it immersed in the history and culture of the Filipino people. As someone outside of that circle, I would have liked a little more context around some of the traditions that are discussed. Likewise, there is some dialogue that is in the original languages of the women. This is noted in the author's introduction but it was difficult to understand the longer passages. However, this in no way diminishes the book for me -- it's still an exceptionally moving read.
Lolas' House comes at a pivotal moment. Many of the lolas express their desire to end war. They say over and over that they hope to keep other children safe from this fate. With the world poised on the edge of the cliff, I would behoove everyone to read Galang's book. It is an incredibly powerful testimony to the horrors of war and the power of the human spirit to persevere. We cannot let this happen again.
Lolas' House is part history book, part memoir, and part biography. Eveline Galang interviews sixteen women who survived imprisonment as Japanese "comfort women" during World War II. These "women" were most often young girls, barely teenagers, stolen off the streets while running errands with siblings. They watched as parents, siblings, and spouses were tortured and murdered before they themselves are hauled away and forced into sexual slavery.
Galang mingles her own personal narrative with the testimonies of the survivors and the history of Filipino life during WWII. It is impossible to not be moved by the strength of these women. They have experienced the worst that humanity has to offer. Not only were they stolen from their homes as children but after daily rapes and slavery, many were rejected by their families upon their return. Yet, the women pushed on and now as very old women, they are fighting the Japanese government.
The only real issue with the book is that it immersed in the history and culture of the Filipino people. As someone outside of that circle, I would have liked a little more context around some of the traditions that are discussed. Likewise, there is some dialogue that is in the original languages of the women. This is noted in the author's introduction but it was difficult to understand the longer passages. However, this in no way diminishes the book for me -- it's still an exceptionally moving read.
Lolas' House comes at a pivotal moment. Many of the lolas express their desire to end war. They say over and over that they hope to keep other children safe from this fate. With the world poised on the edge of the cliff, I would behoove everyone to read Galang's book. It is an incredibly powerful testimony to the horrors of war and the power of the human spirit to persevere. We cannot let this happen again.
June 9, 2020
Lolas’ House is a book of protest and personal narratives by lolas (grandmothers) who vividly describe the abduction, torture and rape they experience during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War 2.
When Evelina Galang started her research back in 1999, she mentions staying at a dorm in St. Scholastica’s College. This was the school I went to in ’99. I was in fourth grade. She mentions protesting with the lolas during the time when the streets were flooded with “ERAP, RESIGN” posters. A time when Filipinos fought against Joseph Estrada’s plunder and perjury. I attended one of these protests with MY lola. To read that Evelina and the lolas were right there, so close in proximity, protesting for comfort women… I wonder why I didn’t hear about them during that time? I wonder why I barely hear about their stories now.
The lolas are old. Some of them have died. They live with this trauma, suffer from it for years. The torture of comfort women didn’t just happen in the Philippines. There are known survivors speaking out from Malaysia, Korea, China, Indonesia… Women who go against the culture of shame that revolve around rape. The lolas deserve justice, a proper and sincere apology —not just compensation. How will they reclaim their bodies? If their stories disappear, how do we make sure history doesn’t repeat? Short answer: We can’t. We NEED to listen to the lolas.
When Evelina Galang started her research back in 1999, she mentions staying at a dorm in St. Scholastica’s College. This was the school I went to in ’99. I was in fourth grade. She mentions protesting with the lolas during the time when the streets were flooded with “ERAP, RESIGN” posters. A time when Filipinos fought against Joseph Estrada’s plunder and perjury. I attended one of these protests with MY lola. To read that Evelina and the lolas were right there, so close in proximity, protesting for comfort women… I wonder why I didn’t hear about them during that time? I wonder why I barely hear about their stories now.
The lolas are old. Some of them have died. They live with this trauma, suffer from it for years. The torture of comfort women didn’t just happen in the Philippines. There are known survivors speaking out from Malaysia, Korea, China, Indonesia… Women who go against the culture of shame that revolve around rape. The lolas deserve justice, a proper and sincere apology —not just compensation. How will they reclaim their bodies? If their stories disappear, how do we make sure history doesn’t repeat? Short answer: We can’t. We NEED to listen to the lolas.
April 2, 2020
A tough read to get through but an important one. I thought it was just going to be testimonies of the 16 women who were raped by Japanese soldiers during WWII, but I like that Galang also gave the context of collecting these stories. It bounces between different years of the process of creating this book, and so we get breathers between the heavy information that the lolas provide. It's important that we read stories like this in order to keep these lolas' message alive although many have passed. A really powerful book that will have you stressed on how the governments have poorly handled the situation. If I could have a quarter of the strength these lolas have had to not only experience that, but continue their lives and then retell the story to educate others, I think I would be a better person.
February 25, 2018
Well, this is everything. It is heartbreaking and gut wrenching. I had to stop and take a break from it so many times because the description of all the violence these women endured was too much. It is hard to say this book is excellent giving the content but it gives the women who give their testimonies a chance to expel all that their bodies have endured and they run with it. Everyone should read this so that we may never forget them.
February 20, 2025
Lolas’ House tells the story of 16 Filipina women who were abducted during World War II and forced to serve as “comfort women” for the Japanese Imperial Army.
The author Evelina started a program where her and other Filipina American women traveled to the Philippines over multiple years to build relationships with the Lolas and hear their stories.
This book was devastating, and I am so glad I read it. “Every war is a war on women”.
The author Evelina started a program where her and other Filipina American women traveled to the Philippines over multiple years to build relationships with the Lolas and hear their stories.
This book was devastating, and I am so glad I read it. “Every war is a war on women”.
July 4, 2022
This is a work that I wish I picked up much sooner than I actually did. Galang does incredible work here providing these women a spotlight in which they can tell their stories to a world that unfortunately still vastly under-recognizes the trauma committed against them.
January 20, 2021
heartbreaking to know that most filipinos are unaware of the true horrors of what happened to comfort women :( “know history, know self. no history, no self.”
October 6, 2025
TW/CW: Rape, child sexual abuse, abuse, sexual slavery, bayoneting, mutilation, incarceration, execution
This book contains interviews and testimonies of Filipino women and girls who were victims of military sexual slavery, and who are also known as "comfort women." Soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army stole and raped women and girls. The Japanese government has not apologized for these crimes. Sexual violence is a weapon of war and it is happening today in places like Congo where there is an ongoing genocide and soldiers are raping women and girls.
I am horrified reading the Lolas' testimonies.
The Japanese government needs to issue a formal apology to sex slaves, NOT a personal apology from a government official. The Japanese government needs to give sex slaves compensation for their suffering. The Japanese government needs to document the Imperial Japanese Army's crimes of military sexual slavery in official histories. (paraphrased from chapter Welcome to Lolas' House, page 7).
After having read this book, the phrase "Kura! Kura!" saddens me. In many of the testimonies of these Filipina women, they state that Japanese soldiers said these words right before kidnapping and raping them. "Kura! Kura" must have traumatized the 400,000 women and girls whom the Japanese soldiers raped and abused, and 200,000 of them are Chinese, and that is heartbreaking (Chapter: "400,000" Page 265).
I appreciate that M. Evelina Galang and the others built genuine friendships with the Lolas of LILA Pilipina, and they put time and effort in befriending them before conducting interviews. In fact, the Lolas had asked about the conduction of interviews before Galang had.
Every single testimony of the Filipina "comfort women" is horrifying. Lola Pilar Frias and other girls were tied at the waist in a rope together so that they couldn't escape.
I appreciate Galang's writing style and how she uses metaphors. A good example is the chapter "Turtle! Turtle!" and how she explains what "Kura! Kura!" means to Filipina survivors. She writes conclusions to every survivor's chapter with metaphors and/or subtext that reflect the survivor's experiences, and/or how trauma manifests itself, and this is accomplished beautifully. Galang is thoughtful in how she frames each survivor's testimony, and she humanizes each Lola--the contextualizing and unique way she writes about each Lola is a small act of justice in itself because the Japanese soldiers had dehumanized them and the world ignores them.
The next part of my review includes chapter names, which are the names of the Lolas, at the end of what I'm referencing and paraphrasing. If you want to read the book before seeing the rest of my review, feel free to do so.
I am furious at the sand pit and the soldiers treating them like fish (Cristita Alcober). The soldiers mutilating, humiliating, torturing, and executing fathers, throwing children into the air and skewering them with bayonets (Narcisa Adriatico Claveria).
The fact that Filipina comfort women and hundreds of thousands of other military sex slaves kept these stories to themselves for half a century (Prescila Bartonico). Due to victim-blaming and victim shaming, people not believing them, the trauma being insurmountable.
Tira ng hapones. I hate the fact that the Lolas had faced victim shaming because the Japanese soldiers raped them. I hate that the Lolas' husbands treated them like leftovers and trash when they'd returned from the soldiers kidnapping and raping them, that the Lolas' mothers turned away from them. How dare they?
I learned about the controversial Asian Women's Fund which private citizens and businesses of Japan had created, and how many Filipina survivors declined the money because they wanted the apology and reparations from the Japanese government (Atanacia Cortez). In this chapter, I also learned about the survivor Lola Juanita Jamot who accepted the money because she has no family to support her and she depends on the support of LILA Pilipina. I am sorry that Lola Juanita has no family to help her. I hate that she had survived kidnapping and rape during war and that she had to experience living alone as an elderly person with no family to help her. I hate this world.
I had read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang years before and learned about the Nanjing Massacre which the Imperial Japanese Army had committed. The bayoneting, executions, rape, and military sexual slavery are atrocious. While reading Lolas' House, I was aware that the bayoneting, executing, and sexual slavery which the Japanese soldiers had committed against the Chinese is also what they then did to Filipinos. However, please remember the large scale of the Nanjing Massacre and the fact that the Japanese forced 200,000 Chinese women and girls into sexual slavery, so we cannot say that what the Japanese did to the Chinese is the exact same as what they did to everyone else in the lands they had occupied. The Imperial Japanese Army used methods of violence such as bayoneting, mutilating, torturing, raping, forcing people into sexual slavery, anywhere they went, so that includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. In total, that's about 400,000 women and girls. And no justice to this day.
It is admirable that Lola Carmencita Cosio Ramel crafted a tapestry of what she'd experienced. She stitched images of the Japanese soldiers kidnapping and raping her and bayoneting babies. This work of art is important to acknowledge her story.
Galang also mentions Lee Yong-Su, who is one of the remaining "comfort women" survivors of South Korea, and that she had met her on Capitol Hill. I know that Lee Yong-Su is fighting for an apology and reparations, and reading the context Galang provides about seeing her again and why she's angry also made me furious (Daughter of This Country). I am so sorry that Lee Yong-Su has been fighting for so long without justice.
I appreciate Galang for mentioning Iris Chang and mourning her. I am saddened that Iris went through so much and received threats from Japanese ultranationalists. I hope Iris is resting in peace now.
Every single testimony is heartbreaking and tears well in my eyes. I appreciate the photographs of the Lolas, the map, and the list of survivors' names. The Lolas describe many things in graphic detail, and I'm sorry that they had to go through so much trauma, keep it all a secret for decades, and re-live the trauma while giving testimonies.
Laban. Laban. LABAN!
The pages I provide in this review are based on my ebook and might be different because of my large font size.
This book contains interviews and testimonies of Filipino women and girls who were victims of military sexual slavery, and who are also known as "comfort women." Soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army stole and raped women and girls. The Japanese government has not apologized for these crimes. Sexual violence is a weapon of war and it is happening today in places like Congo where there is an ongoing genocide and soldiers are raping women and girls.
I am horrified reading the Lolas' testimonies.
The Japanese government needs to issue a formal apology to sex slaves, NOT a personal apology from a government official. The Japanese government needs to give sex slaves compensation for their suffering. The Japanese government needs to document the Imperial Japanese Army's crimes of military sexual slavery in official histories. (paraphrased from chapter Welcome to Lolas' House, page 7).
After having read this book, the phrase "Kura! Kura!" saddens me. In many of the testimonies of these Filipina women, they state that Japanese soldiers said these words right before kidnapping and raping them. "Kura! Kura" must have traumatized the 400,000 women and girls whom the Japanese soldiers raped and abused, and 200,000 of them are Chinese, and that is heartbreaking (Chapter: "400,000" Page 265).
I appreciate that M. Evelina Galang and the others built genuine friendships with the Lolas of LILA Pilipina, and they put time and effort in befriending them before conducting interviews. In fact, the Lolas had asked about the conduction of interviews before Galang had.
Every single testimony of the Filipina "comfort women" is horrifying. Lola Pilar Frias and other girls were tied at the waist in a rope together so that they couldn't escape.
I appreciate Galang's writing style and how she uses metaphors. A good example is the chapter "Turtle! Turtle!" and how she explains what "Kura! Kura!" means to Filipina survivors. She writes conclusions to every survivor's chapter with metaphors and/or subtext that reflect the survivor's experiences, and/or how trauma manifests itself, and this is accomplished beautifully. Galang is thoughtful in how she frames each survivor's testimony, and she humanizes each Lola--the contextualizing and unique way she writes about each Lola is a small act of justice in itself because the Japanese soldiers had dehumanized them and the world ignores them.
The next part of my review includes chapter names, which are the names of the Lolas, at the end of what I'm referencing and paraphrasing. If you want to read the book before seeing the rest of my review, feel free to do so.
I am furious at the sand pit and the soldiers treating them like fish (Cristita Alcober). The soldiers mutilating, humiliating, torturing, and executing fathers, throwing children into the air and skewering them with bayonets (Narcisa Adriatico Claveria).
The fact that Filipina comfort women and hundreds of thousands of other military sex slaves kept these stories to themselves for half a century (Prescila Bartonico). Due to victim-blaming and victim shaming, people not believing them, the trauma being insurmountable.
Tira ng hapones. I hate the fact that the Lolas had faced victim shaming because the Japanese soldiers raped them. I hate that the Lolas' husbands treated them like leftovers and trash when they'd returned from the soldiers kidnapping and raping them, that the Lolas' mothers turned away from them. How dare they?
I learned about the controversial Asian Women's Fund which private citizens and businesses of Japan had created, and how many Filipina survivors declined the money because they wanted the apology and reparations from the Japanese government (Atanacia Cortez). In this chapter, I also learned about the survivor Lola Juanita Jamot who accepted the money because she has no family to support her and she depends on the support of LILA Pilipina. I am sorry that Lola Juanita has no family to help her. I hate that she had survived kidnapping and rape during war and that she had to experience living alone as an elderly person with no family to help her. I hate this world.
I had read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang years before and learned about the Nanjing Massacre which the Imperial Japanese Army had committed. The bayoneting, executions, rape, and military sexual slavery are atrocious. While reading Lolas' House, I was aware that the bayoneting, executing, and sexual slavery which the Japanese soldiers had committed against the Chinese is also what they then did to Filipinos. However, please remember the large scale of the Nanjing Massacre and the fact that the Japanese forced 200,000 Chinese women and girls into sexual slavery, so we cannot say that what the Japanese did to the Chinese is the exact same as what they did to everyone else in the lands they had occupied. The Imperial Japanese Army used methods of violence such as bayoneting, mutilating, torturing, raping, forcing people into sexual slavery, anywhere they went, so that includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. In total, that's about 400,000 women and girls. And no justice to this day.
It is admirable that Lola Carmencita Cosio Ramel crafted a tapestry of what she'd experienced. She stitched images of the Japanese soldiers kidnapping and raping her and bayoneting babies. This work of art is important to acknowledge her story.
Galang also mentions Lee Yong-Su, who is one of the remaining "comfort women" survivors of South Korea, and that she had met her on Capitol Hill. I know that Lee Yong-Su is fighting for an apology and reparations, and reading the context Galang provides about seeing her again and why she's angry also made me furious (Daughter of This Country). I am so sorry that Lee Yong-Su has been fighting for so long without justice.
I appreciate Galang for mentioning Iris Chang and mourning her. I am saddened that Iris went through so much and received threats from Japanese ultranationalists. I hope Iris is resting in peace now.
Every single testimony is heartbreaking and tears well in my eyes. I appreciate the photographs of the Lolas, the map, and the list of survivors' names. The Lolas describe many things in graphic detail, and I'm sorry that they had to go through so much trauma, keep it all a secret for decades, and re-live the trauma while giving testimonies.
Laban. Laban. LABAN!
The pages I provide in this review are based on my ebook and might be different because of my large font size.
February 5, 2025
This is a heartbreaking story of Filipina comfort women abused by Japanese soldiers in WW2. It contains graphic firsthand accounts of what the women went through physically and mentally during and after the war as told in their own words to the author. This book describes the atrocities committed against these women and is not for the squeamish. It also discusses their efforts to have their suffering recognized and the adamant position of the Japanese government to whitewash the subject.
It is historical documentation at its finest. My hat is off to Evelina Galang.
It is historical documentation at its finest. My hat is off to Evelina Galang.
August 11, 2022
“But you know before they left they used me again." When the Lolas cannot say rape, or when they cannot talk about being thrown down and pried open, when the words may rekindle old pain, they say ginamit nila ako. They used me. Over and over again, she says, they used me.
Lola’s House recounts the stories and abuse experienced by 16 surviving comfort women (sex slaves by the Japanese Imperial Army) under the hands of the Japanese during World War II. This is probably the heaviest book I’ve read this year so far. I have read Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking last year, and while reading that made me uncomfortable and angry for the victims, I found Lola’s House more difficult to get through. I had to pause every once in a while because I found it too heavy. Galang has made the stories more personal by injecting anecdotes about her experiences with each Lola, and putting a face in each story by including their photos. This is probably what made it harder for me to read Lola’s House. It felt like each Lola was telling me her story directly. Whereas in The Rape of Nanking, the events were told in a more matter of fact manner, so even though the accounts in that book were more graphic, I was able to finish that book quickly.
It’s very maddening and frustrating to read how the Lolas (and all the comfort women in previously Japanese-occupied territories) have never gotten the justice they deserved. All they wanted was simple: a formal apology, compensation for their suffering, and documentation in official histories. Many of them died not getting any of these. It’s also heartbreaking to read how, after everything they went through, fellow Filipinos, including family members, shunned and judged them and even called them prostitutes and Japanese leftovers. One Lola even recounted “It’s as if what happened to me made him lose his love for me (…) My mister took me home, but he did not forgive me.”
The only thing I didn’t like, which is due to personal taste, is that I found the author’s voice to be too loud. I came here for the Lolas and expected the book to focus solely on their stories. But then in between chapters, you get musings from Galang’s life that I frankly don’t really care about, lol. What was I supposed to do with this line: Because I am a contemporary Pinay from America, I practice healthy living. I stop eating meat all together. I think I will be fine. (This is why I actually personally prefer Chang’s writing style over Galang’s.)
Nevertheless, I would still highly recommend this book. The Japanese Government has been trying to downplay/erase these women’s stories, we can’t do that to them too.
3.75/5 stars
This issue is about the perpetual abuse of women in war - at home and abroad, between nations, among communities, and within families. This is about women and their bodies. Who has a right to them? Who protects them? Who honors them and who denies them? It is about that dignity that is torn from each girl, each woman, each nation’s daughter, every time she is taken against her will, violated and left for dead.
March 30, 2025
How do I give only one star to a book telling the truth. A truth so gruesome and so silent that not a lot of people ever heard about it? The woman's voice in war is often silent. No one talks about what they endured and witnessed. And especially something as far back as WWII, so my review is not about their stories or what they have to say, as everyone should witness and read those testimonies, so their torture becomes part of collective memory and history. 5 stars for this. Always. And grateful to the author writing these down.
However, this book is full of the author. I understand that hearing these testimonies are something deeply emotional and personal, but to really give these Lola's justice, the stories and testimonies should be the center of this book, not the authors journey discovering them. The book has 16 testimonies included, but if you count the pages the testimonies are maybe only 5% of this book. A news article would have been enough to write those down und make them public not a whole book with the author depicting herself as a stick figure who holds up all 16 women in her hand. That's how it also felt, her journey, her impact on the women, her life, her reaction to the testimonies, but sorry no. This is not about you. Its about them. She should have written a memoir if she needed to express herself and what she felt, but not put herself in the center of a book that she starts of with the plea of the Lola's: "When will you tell our stories?" And then she writes about so much trauma and bravery nearly as a side note. I understand what she tried to do: tell how much she herself was touched by it, but she then did the biggest mistake in writing: she told and did not show. Let the stories speak for themselves. Flesh them out. Let the women's voices speak loudly. And you yourself as the author: take a step back and let the stories hit and have the intended effect. The effect you felt yourself. By putting yourself in the center you are robbing your readers the same effect and same emotions.
Hours and hours of interviews, 16 hours a day and then only half a page is left over for each woman? How can that be??
And then she put so much Tagalog into her writing. She explains why in the beginning, to really feel the words how she heard them. To feel the pain in every syllabe, but it falls short for a reader who does not understand it. Yes the English language does not do some words justice, but a good author finds a way with the limitations of language to still show the depth of feelings. With every extra word in Tagalog, instead of the intention of drawing the reader closer to the core of pain and suffering, I felt myself drifting further away. As if I was not a part of group talking over my head, even though I really wanted to understand.
And the drama class thing was very disturbing, why have the Lola's re-enact their abduction and even their rape but from the Japanese soldier point of view. Even throwing the author to the ground and acting the grunts and pressing her body to the author. There are many ways to help someone overcome trauma, but this is not one of them.
However, this book is full of the author. I understand that hearing these testimonies are something deeply emotional and personal, but to really give these Lola's justice, the stories and testimonies should be the center of this book, not the authors journey discovering them. The book has 16 testimonies included, but if you count the pages the testimonies are maybe only 5% of this book. A news article would have been enough to write those down und make them public not a whole book with the author depicting herself as a stick figure who holds up all 16 women in her hand. That's how it also felt, her journey, her impact on the women, her life, her reaction to the testimonies, but sorry no. This is not about you. Its about them. She should have written a memoir if she needed to express herself and what she felt, but not put herself in the center of a book that she starts of with the plea of the Lola's: "When will you tell our stories?" And then she writes about so much trauma and bravery nearly as a side note. I understand what she tried to do: tell how much she herself was touched by it, but she then did the biggest mistake in writing: she told and did not show. Let the stories speak for themselves. Flesh them out. Let the women's voices speak loudly. And you yourself as the author: take a step back and let the stories hit and have the intended effect. The effect you felt yourself. By putting yourself in the center you are robbing your readers the same effect and same emotions.
Hours and hours of interviews, 16 hours a day and then only half a page is left over for each woman? How can that be??
And then she put so much Tagalog into her writing. She explains why in the beginning, to really feel the words how she heard them. To feel the pain in every syllabe, but it falls short for a reader who does not understand it. Yes the English language does not do some words justice, but a good author finds a way with the limitations of language to still show the depth of feelings. With every extra word in Tagalog, instead of the intention of drawing the reader closer to the core of pain and suffering, I felt myself drifting further away. As if I was not a part of group talking over my head, even though I really wanted to understand.
And the drama class thing was very disturbing, why have the Lola's re-enact their abduction and even their rape but from the Japanese soldier point of view. Even throwing the author to the ground and acting the grunts and pressing her body to the author. There are many ways to help someone overcome trauma, but this is not one of them.
January 4, 2021
During WWII, invading Japanese troops forced an estimated 400,000 girls and women into the hard life of their “comfort women.” After the war, most of the female survivors were shamed or ashamed of the multiple rapes, degradation, and injuries inflicted on their bodies and souls. In the 1990s, by the time they had become lolas (grandmothers), a handful of the surviving Filipino women told their stories publicly for the first time. They also sued the Japanese government and demanded a formal apology, compensation for their suffering, and documentation in official histories. An American daughter of Filipino immigrants, M. Evelina Galang, meet some of these women in person, recorded their oral histories, and shared them with the world lest we forget. And while we see the fighting spirit of the survivors, we also glimpse startling flashes of compassion shown by these same women who “need to tell the story so the Japanese can heal. So everyone can heal. . . ” and “. . .so that the generations to follow will know. So they will not repeat the same mistakes. We don’t want them to experience what we experienced during World War II.” It’s a hard topic, yet poetry, beauty—and most of all—love fill the book. The survivors’ stories enter our hearts and stay there.
December 10, 2022
There is a line in this book that goes "This is about women and their bodies. Who has a right to them? Who protects them? Who honors them and who denies them?" It is what makes it difficult not to be moved by the testimonies of the women in this book, especially since the justice they seek continues to elude them.
As a reader, I get so lost in the stories - they stay on my mind even when I put the book down and go about my day to day life. However, I truly believe that I will never forget this one. I honestly don't know what to do with myself now after finishing it; there was just so much suffering that these women endured. I am angry, shocked, pained, and despondent all at once. It is absolutely impossible to learn of these lolas' experiences and be able to shake them off.
I wish more people knew about what they went through. I wish the Philippine government did more for them. I wish that the Japanese government finally acknowledges comfort women in the countries they occupied and apologises for their wrongdoing.
As a reader, I get so lost in the stories - they stay on my mind even when I put the book down and go about my day to day life. However, I truly believe that I will never forget this one. I honestly don't know what to do with myself now after finishing it; there was just so much suffering that these women endured. I am angry, shocked, pained, and despondent all at once. It is absolutely impossible to learn of these lolas' experiences and be able to shake them off.
I wish more people knew about what they went through. I wish the Philippine government did more for them. I wish that the Japanese government finally acknowledges comfort women in the countries they occupied and apologises for their wrongdoing.
November 29, 2017
I'm giving this book a 5 star rating. This is because the amount of work and thought put into this story is extremely well done and still relevant to this day. I personally found this book to be shocking, but the truth is uncomfortable to read, but necessary to understand the depth of courage these women had to rise up to. The POV of these women were interesting to read, to see the challenges they had to face in their lives made me rethink my own and understand that others have it worse than me. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to young women like myself. Coming from a family of immigrants, the stories I read were shockingly similar to the stories I have heard in Bangladesh (where I am from). In the modern day, we have many stories coming out about women empowerment, and this book contributes to that.
November 29, 2017
Lola's House was gritty in detail. Every moment that Galang spent with the Filipino women was an eye-opening story. Galang put herself into a place of unwantedness but managed to bring the events together. Her writing techniques and styles of writing were her own especially the bold text for the interviews. She tried to send a message of how women are terrorized and used against their own will. Even today, rape is still a problem. Now however, women are starting to come forward and talk about what has happened. This has come up recently with the accusations against big time move producer Harvey Weinstein. Women are coming forth explaining that men with power do not have a right to get away with raping women. Galang's message from her story is now shown in the world. Honestly though if women were abused back during world war two and still now today, when will it end?
November 29, 2017
This book is a great read. M. Evelina Galang does not just re-tells the story of the Lolas, but she paints the picture of what was happening in the moment. She vividly described the Lolas' reactions and feelings when describing with pure detail of their pasts during time of war. The scenes of rape and murder were all present, and in a sense, these elements are presented in today's society still. Many people are coming forward with accusing people of rape, and it is interesting to see all of these events happening while reading this novel. The author also makes many connections associated with the Lolas past. She uses many rhetorical devices to pull the reader in, such as logos, pathos, ethos, imagery, and much more. Galang is not only recording the stories of the Lolas, but she is also trying to become accepted into their culture. This book is definitely worth a read.
November 29, 2017
I really enjoyed Evelina's writing style and thought it was very unique and descriptive. I thought Evelina did a great job of conveying the pain the Lolas went through during WWII. Her in-depth descriptions and the way she involved both the reader and herself in each situation really worked well. Each story has starts off with a description of the setting of where Evelina and the Lolas are when they start telling her their experiences. Their stories are heartbreaking but must be told so that we remember what the Japanese soldiers did. The book reflects some aspects of today's society where rape is still used as a weapon by the powerful over the vulnerable. The story keeps the Lolas' experiences alive for future generations to learn and never forget.
November 29, 2017
**This is a read for mature audiences as it depicts very vivid scenes of rape and unjust behavior**
Lola's House was a book that really moved me because of the ordeals that young Filipino women faced during the horrors of WWII. Galang truthfully does a masterful job in illustrating the emotions the lolas felt in terms of being taken away from their homes, forced to become "comfort women" to the Japanese Army and the worst was when the lolas finally did get a chance to return home, they were rejected and even turned away by their families. If you want a compelling read that challenges readers to open their eyes to the hardships of WWII, Lola's House is an excellent read that illustrates just that.
Lola's House was a book that really moved me because of the ordeals that young Filipino women faced during the horrors of WWII. Galang truthfully does a masterful job in illustrating the emotions the lolas felt in terms of being taken away from their homes, forced to become "comfort women" to the Japanese Army and the worst was when the lolas finally did get a chance to return home, they were rejected and even turned away by their families. If you want a compelling read that challenges readers to open their eyes to the hardships of WWII, Lola's House is an excellent read that illustrates just that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
Evelina's Lola's House was a great read and extremely valuable as it taught more than just Evelina's experiences with the Lolas themselves had to offer. The book was a great exposition of literature of witness, it taught the reader just as much about Evelina, as it did about the Lolas. While I usually wouldn't read this on my own, I was asked read this book for an English course. What seemed to me as something I didn't necessarily have too much interest in, turned into an amazing page turner and something that I could really sink myself into. Just as Evelina did, I got to relate my experiences and views with rape culture and find solitude in a topic that provides just the opposite. Overall, the book was an amazing read, and I strongly recommend it!
November 29, 2017
It was an interesting read. While on the surface the books seems to be about Filipino comfort women, it reality it is more about Galang herself and how she related to their stories and how it affected her. Galang's use of imagery makes the stories being told feel like they're playing out in front of you. The themes of rape are still prevalent today; as of writing this review there is a national conversation in the U.S. regarding rape and consent. Unfortunately, I personally don't have much of an interest in either the historical or cultural themes presented in this book, so I did not get as enjoyment from this book as I could. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in studying feminism or viewing war from a female perspective.
August 18, 2020
Galang’s “Lola’s House” is a harrowing account of sixteen different lolas who came forward as comfort women in search for justice.
Her writing is vibrant. She sprinkles trinkets of stream of consciousness throughout the book and sets the reader up to step into the accounts of these lolas.
The book is chilling. Explicit accounts of violence and rape paint the landscape of the unequal structures that are at play. Days after reading, I still shudder at the slightest thought of the accounts.
Personally, this aspect is what makes this book so good. It forces to you to face the grim realities of our society where humans act more like animals and where women are treated to a subhuman existence.
Her writing is vibrant. She sprinkles trinkets of stream of consciousness throughout the book and sets the reader up to step into the accounts of these lolas.
The book is chilling. Explicit accounts of violence and rape paint the landscape of the unequal structures that are at play. Days after reading, I still shudder at the slightest thought of the accounts.
Personally, this aspect is what makes this book so good. It forces to you to face the grim realities of our society where humans act more like animals and where women are treated to a subhuman existence.
Read
June 24, 2025I can’t really in good feeling and faith “rate” this one as the content is quite personal, somewhat graphic and deeply saddening… series of interviews with Filipina lolas who were forced into prostitution during World War II (euphemistically called "comfort women” - which also included thousands of Korean women). These women have been seeking apologies and recognition from the Japanese government for years and as far as I can tell, the Filipinas have received no formal apology (found this article that does detail somewhat of an apology and agreement with Korea in 2015: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna...). This trip has continued to be very illuminating on how events in the 20th century have unfolded and greatly impacted the structure of SE Asia today
November 29, 2017
Evelina told the story of the survivors. However, she told her story through the stories of the survivors. When I first picked up this book I never knew about "comfort women". Evelina described every scene so perfectly. I recommend this book, because it is a recorded historical account of an atrocious historical event. Many authors wrote about the holocaust to immortalize the survivors stories. Evelina writes of the Lola's stories to immortalize them. These survivors had children and have legacy while others perished. So she told the stories of lolas that couldn't. She did her service to the world by telling them about the stories.
November 29, 2017
Lola's House is an inspiring and insightful novel about Filipina women who were subjected to rape and torture by the Japanese soldiers during WWII. Galang captivates the reader's heart by using the first-person perspective to retell the story of the Lolas.
This novel demonstrates the different writing techniques of literature, focusing on engaging the reader through descriptive story telling rather than objective speaking. Galang demonstrates this by using the first-person perspective, dialogue, and developing expository scenes. She also uses the women's testimonies as a staple in her novel which gives personal insight on the lives of the Lolas.
This novel demonstrates the different writing techniques of literature, focusing on engaging the reader through descriptive story telling rather than objective speaking. Galang demonstrates this by using the first-person perspective, dialogue, and developing expository scenes. She also uses the women's testimonies as a staple in her novel which gives personal insight on the lives of the Lolas.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews