About The Book

The Story

Imelda’s Secret is based on several true accounts from family and friends about the Japanese occupation of the Philippines written into one storyline. This novel is not another war story but a story about redemption, advocacy, and strength of the comfort women. Their plight continues way after the war and demands attention and action.

The novel is about two heredera cousins, Imelda and Gloria, who survived World War II. Forty years after the war, they are now living in San Francisco, California, dealing with the trauma of their experiences during the war. Gloria has revealed that she was a comfort woman, whereas Imelda kept it a secret.

Gloria’s disclosure hurt her and her sons deeply. Together with Imelda’s daughter, Adele, they started to gather other comfort women and advocate for them. Gloria is now dying and is imploring Imelda to tell her story as a comfort woman and continue her fight because it is in the interest of all women to safeguard against sexual tyranny.

Imelda lost a lot during the war and saw how Gloria was ostracized instead of being supported. She kept her secret to protect herself and her daughter. Adele did not know about Imelda’s secret. Fearful that her secret will change everything, she refused to speak of it. Gloria’s impending death forced Imelda to face the truth. There are other reasons that are compelling Imelda to speak up. One unforeseen element is the appearance of a Japanese Colonel at her door in San Francisco.

Imelda’s Secret is life changing. Her nondisclosure was meant to protect her and her family and, yet, the truth cannot stay hidden forever. Changes are coming and Imelda has to brace for it.

Reviews

“Fascinating - and sad. Thanks for sharing this history not to be forgotten. It reminds of the horrors of war and the sufferings of innocent women - in every war. So the message is more universal than [Liza] perhaps initially anticipated.
I think [Liza’s] format with a lot of conversation gives the figures life. It’s a very good script for a movie as well! [Liza’s] descriptions of locations and activities makes one see the scenes like in a film - well done!”

— Dr. John Grubbström, President of Honour
FAI - Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Maison du Sport International | Lausanne

“The weight of the shame and pain suffered by comfort women over time is incomprehensible. Everyone who survived on both feet had unique and separate experiences made heavier by decades of silence. Today, sex trafficking is still an ongoing trade , facilitated by modern infrastructures that conceal deep networks. Telling this story may help prevent future victims. We must support the underground railroads that rescue those fortunate to get saved.”

— Yolanda Ortega Stern
Chairman - One World Institute, www.theoneworldinstitute.org

“Riveting. A love story. Survival. Hopeful.
Honored to read a Manuscript of Liza Gino’s #novel “Imelda’s Secret” a story of Imelda and Gloria, cousins living in the family hacienda set in Lipa, Batangas, a privileged life at the onset of war / Japanese occupation in the Philippines; shattered by crimes committed against the Comfort Women. Devastating. Amidst the atrocities, compassion by an enemy, of survival.
I love Liza’s writing style, the flashbacks seamlessly flowing from the past into the present. A love story intertwined with twists and turns; a surprise and shocking end.
The book raises awareness about the sufferings of the girls and women victimized then, and the survivors still suffering from physical and mental ill-health, isolation, humiliation, shame, stigmatization and often extreme poverty for decades. The Japanese Government needs to apologize to the Comfort Women now!
Proud of Liza Gino for bringing the stories based on real life events. And so thrilled to see the art of Angeli Clarisse Lata on the cover! Awesome artists!”

— Sonia Delen

“[The] book is a movie script. I enjoyed reading it even though it’s sad, in general. [Liza] is a great novel writer! I can’t wait to get copies of the book. I want to get more copies in time for The Christmas holidays to give to my female family members and friends. The sexual slavery suffered by the “comfort women” must not be forgotten. It’s one of the horrific historical events in war.”

— Daz Lamparas

On the cover

The front book cover is a rendering of Imelda in the 1980s by Angeli Clarisse Lata with Yolanda Ortega Stern standing in as the model. The illustration depicts the older Imelda guarding her secret fiercely that one has to literally tear it off her to reveal the beaten and sexually assaulted younger Imelda.

The artist, Angeli Clarisse Lata, is an up-and-coming artist and visual storyteller from the Bay Area, California. Her artwork reflects a variety of influences from various schools of painting: from the expressionist to surreal; from abstract to street art. She considers the works of Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollack, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, Margaret Keane, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Miss Van, Robert Bowen, and Alex Pardee— to name a few, as her major influences. A history and culture enthusiast, her work highlights the complexities of gender, sex, human rights, and racial/ethnic diversity through her use of brilliant and contrasting colors as well as focus on portraiture.

Her work has been exhibited at the San Francisco Mint, East Bay Community Center in Oakland, CA, and at the San Francisco Philippine Consulate. She has also partnered with local coffee shops in the area to showcase her art, notably at the Barrelista in Martinez, California. On the web, her paintings can be found at @angelisartstudio.

She is currently working on an initiative in support of the Black Lives Matter movement through her project Banners for Change. Her group is producing artworks used as banners that the people carry during protests. The movement aims to humanize victims of systemic oppression and honor their families who are organizing this fight. Similarly, her work on “Imelda’s Secret” has allowed her to illustrate the atrocities of war and depict women in their fight to be seen and recognized by a system that has ignored them for much too long.

Her work has inspired many and has been used as a voice for those who have historically held less to no power in society – to spotlight the stories that have been glossed over by historians in the past.

Angeli’s art showcases the nuances and the diversity of the human identity and experiences. It exposes the truth that exists in life and functions as a mirror before the world, showcasing the ugly and the beautiful from the female perspective.

The model, Yolanda Ortega Stern, is a Berkeley Educator (retired) and is the current chairman of the One World Institute (USA) and OWIC Philippines – both are private not-for-profit foundations engaged in philanthropy for peace projects. The foundations were founded in 2000 with her late spouse, Dr. Thomas K. Stern with initial support from the Berkeley Family Practice Medical Group, Berkeley-based medical facilities owned and co-managed by Ms. Stern. The foundations are primarily focused on health and education through reading programs, humanitarian missions and various livelihood projects.

Known as a “Daughter of Mindanao,” Ms. Stern has many years of experience in conflict resolution, human rights issues, immigration policies and entrepreneurship. Ms. Stern was appointed Hon. Ambassador of California in 1994 for work bridging trade and commerce between the USA and Asia. She spearheaded the Reacquisition Act that led to the Dual Citizenship Law in the Philippines and became the first dual citizen. She served as senior adviser to key organizations with intimate knowledge of the history of the armed struggle in Mindanao, Philippines and the history of Filipino and Latin immigration to the US. She is also the author of “Sex and The Wild Pearl,” the definitive resource book on mollusks of the Sulu Seas that produce natural pearls.

The book back cover is a mixed media mosaic glass art entitled “Iluminati 3” by Maria Isabel Lopez. It’s a metaphorical representation of Imelda after her transformation. The women known as “comfort women” were practically “stoned” because of the ignorance, prejudices, misguided taboos, and society’s inequitable application of justice. This is Imelda rising. The stones now represent the jewels on her back. She is now empowered and ready to walk away from all the pains of the past, bare and naked, wearing only the truth as her armor.

The artist, Maria Isabel Lopez, is an award-winning Filipino actress and a Fine Arts graduate of the University of the Philippines. She’s a former Secretary of the National Commission for Culture & Arts-Committee on Visual Arts from 2011 to 2013.

She describes “Iluminati 3” as: “The female body is in itself a work of art though not necessarily perfect. Individual fragments, imperfect and broken, were combined in such a way to reveal a rich tapestry for the senses. A wide variety of materials were used in Iluminati 3, including natural and manmade stones, foraged and found items such as horseshoe crab carcass, abalone, and sea glass. This was done by contrasting elements of light and shadow, shape and texture in the fluid lines of the subject matter. The element of light was reflected in the use of brilliant colors that are magical; a glorification of the human flesh.”

Her earlier mosaic pieces show a desire to experiment with found objects – river pebbles, sand mortar, shells, and natural stones to create highly textured compositions.

Her background in fashion design brought her this fascination of the female form. Her decades-long career as an actress allowed her to use her body as an acting tool. This brought creativity, spontaneity and balance through her other art form – the language of mosaic.