Concepcion puts us forcefully and unapologetically on the hook of U.S. imperial history and its role in shaping Filipino and American identity — and never lets us off.

... a sprawling and impressive work.

If Concepcion were only about Samaha’s mother, it would already be wholly worthwhile. But she was one of eight children in the Concepcion family, whose ancestry Samaha traces in this sprawling and powerful book back to the sultanates that preceded the Spanish Empire’s arrival in the Philippines.

... a captivating, thoughtful, classification-defying read.

In this broad view of immigration, Samaha’s narrative jumps in time and between family members; at times, it’s disorienting, but it serves well his greater storytelling purposes. The narrative shines when Samaha details the life of his grandmother, who stayed with various relatives at different points in time, redefining the meaning of home.

Drawing on more than 100 interviews as well as oral histories, court cases, and immigration records, Samaha creates a vivid sense of the reality immigrants encountered in a country they believed would offer 'dreams and stability'.

In this extraordinary memoir, the history of his Filipino forebears serves as an evocative window into global issues of immigration and American imperialism.