''Juanita Cruz'' is a novel written by
Magdalena G. Jalandoni in 1966. It was originally written in
Hiligaynon.
Plot
Juanita Cruz, also known as Nita, is the only daughter of Don Macario and Doña Beatriz, one of the most affluent families from the town of
Salog (now known as Jaro) in the province of
Iloilo
Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...
. Her friendship with Lina, a daughter of a poor family, opens her eyes to see the disparity between the rich and the poor. As a child, the early demise of Lina gives Nita her first heartache.
Nita is sheltered and pampered as she grows. She is considered the
binukot
Binukot, also spelled Binokot, is a pre-colonial Visayan tradition from the Philippines that secludes a young woman with the expectation that seclusion will result in a higher value placed on the girl by marital suitors in the future. It original ...
, the untouched princess, of her rich and powerful family. Her fate starts to change when she meets the already fine man named Elias, the only brother of her friend Lina. Since Elias’ family belongs to a lower social status, Nita’s parents and brothers, Edgar and Chito, are against their relationship.
The day before Elias leaves the country to study in Spain under a scholarship grant, the lovers secretly meet in a garden. Unfortunately, they are caught by Don Macario and Dona Beatriz. Soon, Nita’s position in her family is replaced by her cousin Mila. Later on, Nita can no longer bear her sufferings, so decides to leave their house and finds herself challenged by the waves of fate that would have drowned her in uncharted depths of the ocean.
Nita embarks on a journey in pursuit of her passions in life. She remains single until she finally met Elias, the man of her dreams, again. The love story of Nita and Elias ends with the death of Elias as one of the high-ranking officers of the revolutionary army against the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
colonizers.
External links
Google books
1966 novels
Philippine novels
Novels set in the Philippines
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