The Betrayed tells the story of two sisters who love the same man. As dictatorship and political upheaval ravage the Philippines, the sisters’ conflicting passions threaten to lead them to betray not only each other, but all that their father stood for.

Shy, idealistic Pilar initially resolves to carry on her father’s fight against the regime, while her flamboyant older sister Lali reacts by marrying the enemy—Arturo, the dictator’s godson. Each tries to find their place in this violent world, but can they withstand the corruption of politics and the relentless pull of their own desires?

Taking in the Philippines’ troubled history from the Marcos dictatorship to the establishment of the current autocratic regime, and expertly layering into this timely story many aspects of the human condition, The Betrayed is a complex and luminous novel.

Reine Arcache Melvin
Reine Arcache Melvin is a Filipino-American author whose works focus on the Philippines and the lives of Filipinos both at home and abroad. Arcache Melvin’s short-story collection A Normal Life and Other Stories won the Philippine National Book Award for Fiction in 1999. The Betrayed is her first novel.

• Sep 5 2022
  “Sumptuous and visceral.”
  — The New York Times Book Review
• Aug 1 2022
  ★ “A striking work of fiction.”
  — Booklist (Starred Review)
• Jul 15 2022
  “Cinematic.”
  — Kirkus Reviews
• Jul 14 2022
  “...explores the complex relationship between two sisters and the Philippines’ turbulent history.”
  — Publishers Weekly