{"product_id":"villa-magdalena-by-bienvenido-n-santos","title":"'Villa Magdalena' by Bienvenido N. Santos","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-13\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-13\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-13\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-28\" data-turn=\"assistant\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-15 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\" class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"8d2b7012-b24d-4aa1-afc9-9b4d51ba2ed0\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-6-thinking\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4 data-start=\"43\" data-end=\"669\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThis is a very, very scarce edition of a work first published in the Philippines in 1965. It is one of Santos’s major works outside the Filipino-American exile fiction for which he is now better known. \u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"43\" data-end=\"669\"\u003eSantos’s first novel follows Fred, a poor young man drawn into the wealthy Medallada household at Villa Magdalena, where work, patronage and desire offer him entry into a world built on money and inherited power. His attachment to Nora becomes entangled with the family’s rivalries and moral decay, while the approach of the Second World War exposes how fragile their enclosed prosperity really is. The novel’s central movement is contamination of the lonely outsider entering the house hoping to belong, then begins absorbing the values that once excluded him. \u003cspan class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"43\" data-end=\"669\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDense, symbolic and often gothic in atmosphere, it uses the villa as both family estate and diseased social order, crowded with beauty, sex, death, odour and foreboding. Critics have read it as a novel of corruption and failed belonging: a study of the poor boy in the world of the rich, and of privilege already rotting from within.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1240\" data-end=\"1415\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVery scarce. New Day Publishers second edition, 1986, completely reset from the 1965 first edition. Paperback in very good condition with light rubbing, minor marks and slight corner wear.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45850118848595,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Yourparagraphtext-2026-07-22T084715.257.png?v=1784674126","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/villa-magdalena-by-bienvenido-n-santos","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}