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Migrante
Rizal, a young man from the Navotas City Cemetery, spends his days and nights among the dead, dreaming of something more. Amid the tombs he tends to for a pittance, living in a mausoleum with his mother , he can sense it when he looks out from the shores of Manila Bay — that feeling of a world of opportunity, somewhere beyond the horizon.
If he could find a way out, perhaps, somehow, some way, he could earn a better life for himself and his mother. He could even win back the mother of his infant daughter and bring his young family out of the mire of poverty. But how?
Rizal hears of work in a fishing fleet in a far-off place—Taiwan. In a matter of weeks, he finds himself whisked away to a new world, standing on the deck of an old, rusting tub, the youngest of a greenhorn crew.
The dream quickly turns nightmare. Rizal learns fast that life in the Taiwan fleet isn’t anything like it was made out to be. Gone are thoughts of earning big money, sending some home to his mother and child. The message he and his crewman receive is clear. Work, take what we give you, be grateful, and above all, be silent.
Tethered to an abusive captain, Rizal fights for his life. Will he become one of the nameless dead, like those countless unclaimed remains back in the cemetery? Or will Rizal find hope amid the grimmest of circumstances?
Migrante, the story of a Filipino fisherman, one of thousands in the Taiwan fleet, paints a stark picture of the reality facing the migrant workers of the world — people who exist outside the public eye.
If he could find a way out, perhaps, somehow, some way, he could earn a better life for himself and his mother. He could even win back the mother of his infant daughter and bring his young family out of the mire of poverty. But how?
Rizal hears of work in a fishing fleet in a far-off place—Taiwan. In a matter of weeks, he finds himself whisked away to a new world, standing on the deck of an old, rusting tub, the youngest of a greenhorn crew.
The dream quickly turns nightmare. Rizal learns fast that life in the Taiwan fleet isn’t anything like it was made out to be. Gone are thoughts of earning big money, sending some home to his mother and child. The message he and his crewman receive is clear. Work, take what we give you, be grateful, and above all, be silent.
Tethered to an abusive captain, Rizal fights for his life. Will he become one of the nameless dead, like those countless unclaimed remains back in the cemetery? Or will Rizal find hope amid the grimmest of circumstances?
Migrante, the story of a Filipino fisherman, one of thousands in the Taiwan fleet, paints a stark picture of the reality facing the migrant workers of the world — people who exist outside the public eye.
- GenresFiction
310 pages, Paperback
Published July 16, 2020
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
J.W. Henley
3 books13 followersJ.W. Henley is a freelance writer and musician originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, now based out of Taipei, Taiwan. After obtaining a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of King's College in the spring of 2005, he skipped his graduation ceremony and traveled to Taiwan on a whim with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and no plan whatsoever.
That flight of fancy has now extended into the better part of a decade spent in Taiwan's capital city, during which he has kept busy writing and performing as a vocalist in various punk and metal bands. An avid traveler, his personal journeys and touring schedule have taken him around Asia and all over the world, spanning as far as the Caribbean, North Africa, the South Pacific and Northern Europe. Literary heroes include the greats of true grit, such as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, and Lester Bangs. He shares a home with his wife, Jill, and their three cats. He and Jill are constantly cooking up some sort of travel scheme to take them far, far away from the mundane. But until the next trip comes along, there is always another story to get lost in.
That flight of fancy has now extended into the better part of a decade spent in Taiwan's capital city, during which he has kept busy writing and performing as a vocalist in various punk and metal bands. An avid traveler, his personal journeys and touring schedule have taken him around Asia and all over the world, spanning as far as the Caribbean, North Africa, the South Pacific and Northern Europe. Literary heroes include the greats of true grit, such as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, and Lester Bangs. He shares a home with his wife, Jill, and their three cats. He and Jill are constantly cooking up some sort of travel scheme to take them far, far away from the mundane. But until the next trip comes along, there is always another story to get lost in.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 11, 2020
J.W. Henley’s latest book Migrante is a bleak, heart-wrenching novel about the poorest of the poor. And it’s an outstanding read.
When I wrote this review I was wondering what else to write about this book. But that’s only because it was still bouncing around in my head. I finished it not half an hour before I sat down to write, and as I suspected, it bounced around in my head for a while longer.
Migrante is a fictional work. But it is inspired by the true stories of Philippine migrants to Taiwan, those seeking work, better pay, better conditions than the life they’re leaving behind. Instead, what most find is the opposite: Slave conditions, very little (if any) money, abuse, hunger, and denigration.
It’s not the first work that Henley has produced on this topic. His investigations into the plight of migrant workers in Taiwan, and the conditions of the poor in the Philippines are extensive. (And, warning, if you go to read them, they’re shocking.)
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that, having covered such material in his journalist life, that it all bubbled over into a more extended, emotional and personal story like Migrante.
The book Migrante follows Rizal. Born into poverty and raised from a young age in a cemetery—a place where the poor are buried en masse, nameless and forgotten—Rizal is hen-pecked by his mother for being idle. Though, Rizal’s mother wasn’t the only one to do so. His former girlfriend, and mother of his child, left the cemetery for a better life after Rizal was unable to provide for them.
But that’s not to say that Rizal doesn’t want to work, doesn’t want to provide for his family. He does. His circumstances make it almost impossible for him: Jobs are beyond difficult for folk so far down the food chain. Rizal’s friend Kidlat, a drug addict, sees no shame in idleness. But Rizal wants something better.
It is in pursuit of this ‘better’ that Rizal seeks out a migration broker. Charmed by the man’s stories of the lifestyle—despite his emphasis on work—and his imagination lit up by the possibility of lifting himself out of his abject poverty, Rizal signs up. He does this laboriously, because he can’t read.
The story follows Rizal’s experiences in Taiwan as a migrant fisherman. It paints vivid pictures of the lies he was told, the abuse he suffered, and his attempt to get out of a horrific situation.
I won’t tell you what happens; instead, you’ll go get a copy and read the book. (A discount code is at the end for you.)
Migrante is a relatively short, fast read. It was a risk for Henley to send me a copy of the work, to be honest. I’m fussy about the books I read and sharp when they fall flat. But by the time I was three chapters into this book, I was deep inside the story.
Rizal is a lovable, if hopeless character. By the end of the book, even though I had an inkling of what was about to transpire, I still hoped that it wouldn’t…
I feel, somehow that this hope is the point of Migrante.
The book tells an absolute nightmare of a story; one that is worse for being based in reality. But it’s the hope within a framework of hopelessness that is truly heartbreaking. Without any substantial help, understanding, or (god forbid!) policy against the slave brokers, breaking free is almost impossible.
Migrante is a story of indebtedness, slavery, and struggle. But it is also the heartbreaking story of one young man’s undying hope for a better future.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
J.W. Henley is donating all of his earnings from Migrante to migrant worker advocacy groups in Taiwan, to help further migrants’ fight for equal rights under the law.
Pre-order Migrante until it is released on 16 July 2020 – and get a discount with the code rizal15. Go to: Camphor Press to get it.
When I wrote this review I was wondering what else to write about this book. But that’s only because it was still bouncing around in my head. I finished it not half an hour before I sat down to write, and as I suspected, it bounced around in my head for a while longer.
Migrante is a fictional work. But it is inspired by the true stories of Philippine migrants to Taiwan, those seeking work, better pay, better conditions than the life they’re leaving behind. Instead, what most find is the opposite: Slave conditions, very little (if any) money, abuse, hunger, and denigration.
It’s not the first work that Henley has produced on this topic. His investigations into the plight of migrant workers in Taiwan, and the conditions of the poor in the Philippines are extensive. (And, warning, if you go to read them, they’re shocking.)
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that, having covered such material in his journalist life, that it all bubbled over into a more extended, emotional and personal story like Migrante.
The book Migrante follows Rizal. Born into poverty and raised from a young age in a cemetery—a place where the poor are buried en masse, nameless and forgotten—Rizal is hen-pecked by his mother for being idle. Though, Rizal’s mother wasn’t the only one to do so. His former girlfriend, and mother of his child, left the cemetery for a better life after Rizal was unable to provide for them.
But that’s not to say that Rizal doesn’t want to work, doesn’t want to provide for his family. He does. His circumstances make it almost impossible for him: Jobs are beyond difficult for folk so far down the food chain. Rizal’s friend Kidlat, a drug addict, sees no shame in idleness. But Rizal wants something better.
It is in pursuit of this ‘better’ that Rizal seeks out a migration broker. Charmed by the man’s stories of the lifestyle—despite his emphasis on work—and his imagination lit up by the possibility of lifting himself out of his abject poverty, Rizal signs up. He does this laboriously, because he can’t read.
The story follows Rizal’s experiences in Taiwan as a migrant fisherman. It paints vivid pictures of the lies he was told, the abuse he suffered, and his attempt to get out of a horrific situation.
I won’t tell you what happens; instead, you’ll go get a copy and read the book. (A discount code is at the end for you.)
Migrante is a relatively short, fast read. It was a risk for Henley to send me a copy of the work, to be honest. I’m fussy about the books I read and sharp when they fall flat. But by the time I was three chapters into this book, I was deep inside the story.
Rizal is a lovable, if hopeless character. By the end of the book, even though I had an inkling of what was about to transpire, I still hoped that it wouldn’t…
I feel, somehow that this hope is the point of Migrante.
The book tells an absolute nightmare of a story; one that is worse for being based in reality. But it’s the hope within a framework of hopelessness that is truly heartbreaking. Without any substantial help, understanding, or (god forbid!) policy against the slave brokers, breaking free is almost impossible.
Migrante is a story of indebtedness, slavery, and struggle. But it is also the heartbreaking story of one young man’s undying hope for a better future.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
J.W. Henley is donating all of his earnings from Migrante to migrant worker advocacy groups in Taiwan, to help further migrants’ fight for equal rights under the law.
Pre-order Migrante until it is released on 16 July 2020 – and get a discount with the code rizal15. Go to: Camphor Press to get it.
November 12, 2020
This is a very eye opening book. Henley does a great job of setting the scene for us about this tale of a Filipino, who decides to move to Taiwan to take a job. In it they show us how the world treats those who will do jobs that people in better off countries refuse to do.
The story is about a single character, but really is more about the world in general. As I sat reading it here in Canada, thoughts about how the conditions in which the main character finds himself in resemble those of Filipino foreign workers in Canada. We like to think that we treat people better and perhaps the working conditions are better at McDonald's in Canada than a fishing boat in Taiwan. But the living conditions seem similar. I have heard stories about how many of these workers do not have their own beds. How when they get home from work, the next shift gets out of bed and they take their place.
Why do they do this? Henley paints the picture of why. It seems better than what they have in the Philippines. Better than living inside a crypt at the cemetery. Better than living in a hut that blows down with slightest breeze. But conditions are not always better when they reach their new country. But what many dream of that I have met is being able to get out of the shackles of servitude and make a true life for themselves in their new country. Henley's book explores this theme, but the question remains will it happen for Rizal?
As the story takes place in the Philippines and Taiwan, there are words of Tagalog and Mandarin thrown in for colour. Some Henley translates, others they do not. So there are times where I came up with what I thought was meant, but I truly have no idea. I suppose I could have Google Translated them, but I liked my version. While it is done likely to add colour, it does give us a perspective on how a migrante feels in a new country. I don't speak either language and it leaves me to try and make sense of it. Much as a migrante is generally thrown into a new society with a language not of their own and has to make due. The ones I have encountered are much better versed in English, as well as being literate compared to Rizal, but I am certain they find themselves as a fish out of water so to speak.
I definitely recommend reading this book to better understand the plight of the people who make us coffee each day, catch our fish, or any other menial task we deign not to do ourselves.
The story is about a single character, but really is more about the world in general. As I sat reading it here in Canada, thoughts about how the conditions in which the main character finds himself in resemble those of Filipino foreign workers in Canada. We like to think that we treat people better and perhaps the working conditions are better at McDonald's in Canada than a fishing boat in Taiwan. But the living conditions seem similar. I have heard stories about how many of these workers do not have their own beds. How when they get home from work, the next shift gets out of bed and they take their place.
Why do they do this? Henley paints the picture of why. It seems better than what they have in the Philippines. Better than living inside a crypt at the cemetery. Better than living in a hut that blows down with slightest breeze. But conditions are not always better when they reach their new country. But what many dream of that I have met is being able to get out of the shackles of servitude and make a true life for themselves in their new country. Henley's book explores this theme, but the question remains will it happen for Rizal?
As the story takes place in the Philippines and Taiwan, there are words of Tagalog and Mandarin thrown in for colour. Some Henley translates, others they do not. So there are times where I came up with what I thought was meant, but I truly have no idea. I suppose I could have Google Translated them, but I liked my version. While it is done likely to add colour, it does give us a perspective on how a migrante feels in a new country. I don't speak either language and it leaves me to try and make sense of it. Much as a migrante is generally thrown into a new society with a language not of their own and has to make due. The ones I have encountered are much better versed in English, as well as being literate compared to Rizal, but I am certain they find themselves as a fish out of water so to speak.
I definitely recommend reading this book to better understand the plight of the people who make us coffee each day, catch our fish, or any other menial task we deign not to do ourselves.
December 10, 2020
An enjoyable fictitious look at the real lives & struggles of Migrant workers in Taiwan.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews