1. Philippine fiction (English) In this iconic novel from the imagination of the greatest Filipino writer in English Nick Joaquin, what lies hidden becomes uncovered by extraordinary circumstances. Connie Escobar has always thought she had two navels. This does not sit right with her and she confides in her doctor Pepe Monson and requests that he remove one of the navels. Her life takes a turn for the worse when she finds out her husband, Macho Escobar, was her mother’s lover. Betrayed, she flees to Hong Kong where she faces even more unsettling truths. Sharp and wounding, The Woman Who Had Two Navels is ultimately a tale of killing your illusions, no matter how deeply set, as Connie’s hallucination of having two navels illustrates her desire to free herself from her traumatic childhood.