A Place of Springs

In the shadow of the Marcos regime, south of Manila in the Philippines, an extended family grows, grandparents, parents, children, friends, and enemies in a place of springs; a special place where heated and healing waters spring from a volcanic source; a surprising place where the struggle to love, serve, and forgive gradually (and humorously) transforms human relationships, revealing a divine source; a surprising place where a fabled lost treasure of gold, a rebellion in the hills, a recluse holdout from World War II, an oppressive local constabulary, and a brother and half sister all come together in a rousing crescendo leading to an unexpected dawn for all in eternity. Forty simple drawings by the author illustrate this whimsical yet gripping story, revealing the truth of what St. Francis de Sales once wrote, "The world is only peopled to people heaven."