Black Clouds in Manila: After the Ashes (ePub)

The Japanese are on the defensive as General Douglas MacArthur infiltrates the Philippines to organize liberation of the Filipino people from Japanese occupation. When the Japanese learn that Torio has joined the guerrillas, they actively go after his family in a retaliatory maneuver. Rissing is on the run in the Philippine jungles. Defended by a little Aeta hunter her family adopts, her friend's teenage sons, and her own two pre-teen boys, Rissing is on the run. Her group battles Japanese patrols even as Rissing goes into labor with her fifth child. Torio rescues his family and they make it to safety.

As MacArthur makes his promised return, the Filipino people prepare for the battle to reclaim their country. In Manila, a pregnant Lucing says goodbye to her Camp Commander lover at Santo Tomas, knowing she will probably never see him again. On February 3, 1945, Santo Tomas is liberated by American troops. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese officially surrender to the Americans.

The separations, challenges and intense events of the war has frayed and torn the fabric of Torio and Rissing's marriage, but somehow it has survived. However, back in a virtually destroyed Manila, Rissing decides that this dark and shadowed place is not where her children should grow up. It's not that she's abandoning her beloved Philippines. She is merely designing a better future for her children, and that means setting her sights on America... land of the free.

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