Lovely
A true story that will help you survive a cruel life.
A note before you read: this is a true story, and it does not soften what happened.
Before she turned twelve, Lovely had already cut her mother down from a rope, learned to cook for five siblings, and stopped being a child.
This is the true story of a Filipino girl from the provinces who survived what should have broken her — an abusive home, a mother who abandoned her children, the death of the grandfather who was her only safety, exploitation at seventeen, a violent relationship, and nearly four years in prison for a crime she did not commit.
But this book is not about what happened to her.
It is about what did not happen to her.
She did not become cruel. She did not surrender. She did not let the worst chapters of her life write the ending.
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Lovely is a memoir written for every teenager and young woman who feels trapped — by poverty, by violence, by shame, by circumstances that seem impossible to survive. It is raw, honest, and direct. It does not offer easy answers. It offers something harder and more valuable: proof that a real person, with a real name, lived through the worst and came out the other side still standing, still kind, still fighting.
If your life is cruel right now, this book was written for you.
Six chapters of a life that should have broken her.
The provinces
She grew up in the provinces of the Philippines, in an abusive home, in a family her mother would eventually abandon.
The only safety she had
Her grandfather was the one person who kept her safe. When he died, that safety died with him.
Exploited at seventeen. Then a violent relationship.
Nearly four years
Imprisoned for a crime she did not commit.
Beginning again
She walked out and started over — without becoming cruel, and without surrendering.
She wrote it down
Her real name is on the cover. Not as a confession — as proof, for anyone who needs it, that the worst can be survived.
Pain at a young age is not a reason to surrender. Prison, poverty, abandonment, shame, or betrayal do not get to write the last line of your life — unless you hand them the pen.
An inspirational memoir of survival, injustice, and the strength to begin again.
Available in paperback and on Kindle.
Read it on Amazon“Lovely perfectly captures the simplicity, beauty and hardship of provincial living. An important book for survivors, or anyone trying to find light in the midst of darkness. This is a must-read for all expats, or anyone considering a life in Southeast Asia.”
Lovely Grace
Laguardia Siton
Today I live in Barili, the town where I was born. My grandparents’ old house stood on this ground, and it is where I lived as a small girl. I tore it down and built a new house in exactly the same place.
I live here with my partner, Alvaro, planning a life together. Two of my brothers and my grandmother still live beside the spring, and my father lives close by. We see each other every day.
I am going back to school. And I am going to keep writing.