The Last Toll: A Bittersweet World War II Love Story from the Philippines

In a quiet town battered by war and time, Tony stood beneath the noon sun, sweat clinging to his brow. He was only eighteen, yet the world had already demanded more from him than a lifetime should. His mother, reeking of sewage and sacrifice, had raised him to obey, to survive. And he did — in the only ways he knew how. Melinda was his opposite — silk to his rags, perfume to his mother’s stench.…