And the Stars Were Shining.
by José Miguel Roig
Category: Fiction

It tells of the love affair between Prince Hasegawa, a young Japanese officer and Maria Antonieta, an older Spanish-Filipino woman, during the Second World. War. The events occur in a Sugar Central in the island of Negros, the Philippines, and the Japanese occupation and local guerillas condition their love. He doesn’t speak English or Spanish, she doesn’t speak Japanese. Opera is the medium that unites them. The story is seen through the eyes of the officer seven decades later, when he is a very old man. He promised he would come back for her but he never did. The wound is still open and the search to heal it embarks Hasegawa on a sentimental journey back to where their love flourished. This is also a story about dignity and human compassion in battle.