A Tiny Upward Shove: A Novel
Melissa Chadburn
Apr 2022 · Macmillan + ORM
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About this ebook
A haunting tale of vengeance and mercy, inspired by Filipino folklore, that follows a young woman's transformation into a mythical creature after her untimely death.
In A Tiny Upward Shove, Melissa Chadburn's ambitious debut novel, Marina Salles's life does not end the day she wakes up dead. Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother's old Filipino stories—an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others.
Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known—even her killer—as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society's castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy?
In A Tiny Upward Shove, Melissa Chadburn's ambitious debut novel, Marina Salles's life does not end the day she wakes up dead. Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother's old Filipino stories—an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others.
Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known—even her killer—as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society's castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy?
A haunting tale of vengeance and mercy, inspired by Filipino folklore, that follows a young woman's transformation into a mythical creature after her untimely death.
In A Tiny Upward Shove, Melissa Chadburn's ambitious debut novel, Marina Salles's life does not end the day she wakes up dead. Ins...
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Ratings and reviews
1 review
Jasmine Albitos
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April 29, 2022
Note: This Review contains NO spoilers Wow! What a gripping and vivid debut novel by acclaimed writer and activist Melissa Chadburn. Filled with Filipino folklore and mysticism, A Tiny Upward Shove is a graphically dark and disturbing narrative of Marina Salles's life. Although this story contains haunting and horrific situations, the author brilliantly writes a riveting narrative which will immerse reader(s) into Marina's dark and twisted preternatural world and atmosphere. I was definitely one reader that got lost in this book as the author took me on an eerie exploration through Marina's life with a good amount of Filipino folklore and superstition woven throughout. A Tiny Upward Shove is a definite page-turner that will keep reader(s) at the edge-of-their-seat. I do have to say it was not an easy read due to the unsettling situations throughout the book, but well worth the read.
About the author
Melissa Chadburn's writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review Daily, The Best American Food Writing, and many other publications. Her extensive reporting on the child welfare system appears in the Netflix docuseries The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Melissa is a worker lover and through her own labor and literary citizenship strives to upend economic violence. Her mother taught her how to sharpen a pencil with a knife and she's basically been doing that ever since. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Southern California and lives in greater Los Angeles.
Melissa Chadburn's writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review Daily, The Best American Food Writing, and many other publications. Her extensive reporting on the child welfare system appears in the Netflix docuserie...
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