Everything We Never Had

A powerful, gripping novel from National Book Award–finalist Randy Ribay that spans four time periods and four generations of Filipino American boys as they grapple with identity, assimilation, and masculinity.

Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.

Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of microaggression from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his farm labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.

Denver, 1983. Whether it’s tanking his grades or joining the football team, Chris is determined to prove his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father insists they’re just American.

Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves into Enzo’s bedroom. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.

Told in multiple perspectives, over four generations of a single family, Everything We Never Had is a story about father-son relationships and of forging your own path within a family or society that urges you to follow theirs.