Sibling love and a little magic: Tall Story review

My brother doesn’t know this, but I consider him to be one of my best friends. He’s four years older than me, and like every other sibling pair, we used to have our share of screaming matches when we were kids. We only started having serious conversations as we grew up, thanks to the long rides from school to our house during college, when he'd pick me up. My relationship with him gave me a soft spot for stories about brothers and sisters, so it was no surprise that I couldn't wait to read the recently released Tall Story by Candy Gourlay.

Tall Story chronicles the tale of half-siblings Bernardo and Andi, from the day they meet for the first time. Bernardo grew up in the Philippines under the care of his aunt and uncle, after his mom, a nurse, relocated to the United Kingdom to work. Bernardo grew up waiting for his papers to get approved by UK Immigration, so that he could live in London with his family. Andi is a small girl who loves basketball and barely knows her older brother, save for a few letters and phone calls. All that Andi knows is that her brother is tall, as her mom often stresses, and she wants him in London so they can play basketball together--but when he finally arrives, Andi is in for a shock. Bernardo is not just tall--he’s an eight-foot giant! As Bernardo and Andi get to know each other, Andi is pulled into Bernardo’s “magical” world and Bernardo learns how it feels to have a family.

If I could use one word to describe this novel, it would be "heartwarming." I was thoroughly charmed by the entire book, and not just because it's a brother-sister story. I knew I’d like Andi from her first line: Rush hour. So many armpits, so little deodorant. What Andi lacks in height, she makes up with ferocity and her can't-miss basketball skills. Bernardo, on the other hand, is literally a gentle giant – he’s huge but not aggressive, sometimes rash and forgetful, but always bearing good intentions. Bernardo and Andi's voices are distinct, and they play very well off each other, giving readers a chance to understand and sympathize with both points of view. I ached for the two main characters to be friends, and rejoiced when they grew closer as the book went on.

They weren’t constantly in conflict, which is how some authors portray estranged siblings, but instead, simply ignorant of how to act around each other. There was a mutual love and affection, but it was hard to bridge the cultural gap that had grown between them.

Bernardo’s Filipino culture was juxtaposed against Andi’s British culture, in such a way as to highlight the differences between them. Filipino was portrayed with a lot of color, laden with some superstition and magic unique to Filipinos. I’m not too familiar with local folklore, so I wasn’t familiar with the legend of Bernardo Carpio, so I came to the story with little more knowledge than these foreign reviewers, and I agree that Gourlay managed to weave the legend cleverly into the story, leaving readers wondering if Bernardo the human is actually a reincarnation of Bernardo the giant. Candy also added another magical (and scary) element, in the form of Nena, the town witch, and her daughter, Gabriela, which gave the story more depth, and showed the diversity of Filipino culture and myth. If you’re not keen on magic, however, you aren't forced to accept that world-view--Gourlay provides a possible scientific explanation for Bernardo’s height and other ailments, and leaves the "truth" open. I thought this was really smart, as it grounded the story into the real world while it still reached for something out of the ordinary. While there were still some things in the end that seem to defy rational explanation, the author leaves it up to the readers to decide which to believe.

(Spoiler alert for the next three paragraphs.)

Underneath all the height is a lot of heart, as a reviewer on Amazon said. I found myself in tears at several parts in the book, especially when Andi and Bernardo start to bond. The fate of some of the antagonists was something you’d not wish on your enemies, too, and my heart broke during a scene where calamity struck the Philippines. In the last few chapters of the novel, Gourlay effectively showed how many people turn a blind eye toward what happens in distant parts of the world. Like this reviewer, I found this particular passage heartbreakingly true:

"And the weird thing was, everybody probably knew about it. Everybody had glanced at the newspaper headlines or heard the radio in passing or glimpsed something as they changed channels on the TV. Hundreds of Casualties in Massive Philippine Earthquake. But 'hundreds' are not people, are they? And blank faces on TV are not people either."

Despite this, Gourlay also showed how resilient Filipinos can be, and how distance will not stop us from caring for our homeland.

(End of Spoiler alert)

Candy Gourlay certainly knew her stuff, having lived in and been immersed in two different cultures, and she knows how to write a good older brother-younger sister relationship--despite not having an older brother (although she had an older sister and some younger brothers). Tall Story is a poignant, heartwarming story of clashing cultures, of family and sibling love, with just the right amount of magic, tears and laughter. This is one story that everyone, whether British, Filipino or otherwise, would not regret having read.

The Philippine edition of Tall Story (a special illustrated edition, with a glossary, notes, and discussion guides as we've mentioned) is available in National Bookstore and Powerbooks for P275.

[Image source: Photograph by Tina Matanguihan. Copyright holder/s maintain appropriate rights.]

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