Critical Praises... Rave Reviews "Blessed with fresh material and a fresh point of view, this is an impressive first novel. THE DEVIL FLOWER has much of the brooding tragedy of a folk tale, frankly explicite sexual scenes and considerable humor and quiet wit. Mr. Enriquez' technique -- somewhat florid, with many short, vivid episodes -- lends his book a movie-like impact... suggests the arrival of a quite exceptional new talent." -Russel Thacher, Book of the Month "A skillful and absorbing first novel. Mr. Enriquez writes colorfully, sometimes, perhaps, too lushly, yet clearly brings to life the island ways." - Gene Bara, Herald Tribune, New York "On the surface, a lushly sex-conscious, melodramatic novel... but the author has a remarkable gift for revealing human beings -- many of them -- including Ercelia's somewhat superstitious parents, the handsome and sexually powerful Don Miguel, Father Anacleto, and (exceedingly well) the three declining beauties... The writing is simple... yet magically presents real people in a real place. Recommended to all interested in Filipino literature and in first novels of genuinely talented authors." - May L. Barrett, Library Journal Set in the curious melange of deeply Catholic, remotely Oriental Mindanao, the smouldering desire and guilt of the heroine of THE DEVIL FLOWER emerges with poignant clarity. Ordained by her contemporary villagers as a paragon of purity, the sensual flowering of the attractive Ercelia is met with self-flagellation... Her simultaneous death and consummation are filled with dark and passionate overtones of medieval Catholicism and Eastern eroticism... Emigdio Enriquez summons all the powers of the blood in his handling of this essentially simple story, revealing his climate, in all the complexities of its hybrid vigor, with a sure poetic touch. - Kurkus Bulletin With poetic perception and deftness, Mr. Enriquez, a young Filipino writer, portrays Ercelia's sharp struggle between abstract and sensory demands... On another level, this book is a faithfully observed portrait of Filipino types... The Devil Flower introduces a new young writer of considerable achievement and even greater promise. - Catholic World ... A novel of climate -- of heat and steamy sensitivity. Here, love and violence are found in the Philippines among characters in whom the veneer of Christianity sits lightly on primitive beliefs... Mr. Enriquez has a grip of the setting that avoids the tawdy... he uses his pen like a brooding guitar. - "New Fiction," Times, London Mig (short for Emigdio) Alvarez Enriquez is the last of the John Simmons Guggenheim Writing Fellows of the Philippines. In 1988 he was cited as a "Patnubay ng Kalinangan" by the City of Manila for "helping propagate Philippine culture and literature in English abroad." He is presently teaching at the Lyceum of the Philippines where he finished his latest novel, "The Fourth of July, Twice Told, Where the Monkeys Have No Tails."

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