Crushed

Trinidad was adopted when she was less than a year old and transplanted thousands of miles away from her parents and eleven brothers and sisters. She grows up in a loving home in the suburbs of California—or so she thought. She is given another name, a different birthday, and never quite feels like she fits in. Over time, strange visions and deep dark fears begin to surface in Trinidad's mind, forcing her to question everything. Maybe she has a mental illness? Finally, when she turns 25, she reunites with her long-lost family in the Philippines. The Dorognas, a fishermen family whose last name translates to "crushed," are sweet people who have nothing to give Trinidad except the clothes off their backs and countless stories about their own lives. To Trinidad, each story is a missing puzzle piece to her own life. She listens, over cheap bottles of brandy, as her family weaves together their tales of grief, laughter, killer typhoons, giants, sirenas, and the aswang. Crushed is a story about the myths from our homelands and the myths of our personal memories. It is a journey through suffering, enduring love, and the quest to build a temple of the Self.