"Written in a seemingly effortless grace and clean-eyed prose, the short stories in Roley’s long-awaited collection, The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal, are poignant, intimate, and heartbreaking. These interlinked narratives—all the characters are from the same multi-generational family—offer refreshing perspectives of the Philippine experience in America and what it means to be a Filipino, or a Filipino American, in the country of dreams where they have to constantly make do with the odds, surrender to the scars of war, childhood, and family, endure failed hopes and loves, and grapple with the contradictions of living in-between cultures, homes, and memories." —R. Zamora Linmark, author of Leche and These Books Belong to Ken Z
"I have a particular liking for Jhumpa Lahiri’s way of writing and what she chooses to write about: the Bengali Indian diaspora and Indian Immigrants. The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal is an enchanting book for this same reason. As a reader I can immediately identify with all the characters: individuals who have their roots somewhere else than where they now ‘choose’ to belong. Life changes, friends change, families stay back in another country or move to a new place, language changes, memories change and for that matter, in a strange way History also packs itself in our baggage and moves with us." —NewPages
"Ambitious as the story is, the events that transpire on page are often mundane—and beautiful in their simplicity . . . The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal is a story that deserves a second read." —International Examiner
"American Son and Last Mistress of Jose Rizal are Brian Ascalon Roley’s paeans to diasporic FilAm life: the earlier novel’s two sons finding their American-ness at violent odds with their Filipino-ness, then the later collection’s various family members striving to bridge the old and the new, the Philippines and the US. Roley’s American Son and The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal should be required reading for all of us in the diaspora, but don’t read it like it’s required! Enjoy." —Vince Gotera Editor Emeritus of The North American Review writing in Halo Halo Review