Author Frank A. De La Rosa’s work, A Touch of Life: Real-life story of the author during the darkest times of WWII in the Philippines, is an invaluable look at history because of the perspective and point of view he brings to the task. While there are many books written about and during this time of conflict, few provide the first person look at how WWII shaped the culture and lives of those living closest to the conflict—the children and families directly affected in the Philippines.

 

De La Rosa’s work is personal and biased—and it is the stronger for such views. The book begins with a drawing provided by the author and reflects his earliest memories of his homeland—a life before war touched the community and one filled with quiet beauty and dignity. His stories continue that vein, stories filled with childhood innocence and the beauty of his homeland.

 

De La Rosa’s work is much like a patchwork quilt of memories woven together in a multi-genre text which tells the story of his life. Most selections, even though they deal with heartache and struggles, are uplifting and focused on finding simple beauty in the small details we often take for granted. De La Rosa starts the work off with an example of such positivity in the first selection, a poem called “Salutation to the Dawn!” that serves as thematic introduction where readers find the author’s outlook in full and proud display: Look to this day only for this is life. As we learn with the reading, tomorrows are never guaranteed.

 

The book is a collection of autobiographical short stories culled from the memories of the author and his growing up in the Philippines during WWII—before, during, and shortly after the Japanese invaded the island. These memories and verbal snapshots in time are invaluable looks at a society that, in many ways, ceased to exist when the way of life soon became before the war and after the war. Before the war, the author’s life was idyllic, a shared family community that valued each other and the hard work that was necessary for comfort and survival. While the family was poor, they were happy and healthy and looked forward to continuing generational traditions.

 

And, then, war…which changed it all. De La Rosa’s descriptions and firsthand accounts of being a child during the Japanese invasion and occupation of his homeland is all the more striking because of the innocent perspective, one that is missing from most other novels about the topic of war. The author’s writings are full of the atrocities of events, but he never lost hope in a better day. His innocence was stretched to the breaking point, but apparently never shattered.

 

In A Touch of Life, author Frank A. De La Rosa has left a memento that is an invaluable look at how war can change and scar a community, leaving behind nightmares that never stop. The work, though, isn’t one of hopelessness and despair. Instead, reading the book will be an inspiration to readers in our modern world, a knowledge that community and family is stronger than strife and strangers can be counted on to provide kindness and empathy when least expected, but most needed. As the author queries, what is needed for a better life than these things? Not much more, indeed.