Turn of the Century

Turn of the Century is one of those rare books that makes history feel alive in the hand. Gilda Cordero-Fernando, with the artist and book designer Nik Ricio, recreates the texture of everyday life in the Philippines at the close of the 19th century—when carriages still rattled through Manila’s streets, but the telegraph and the tram were already signs of the world to come. It is a history not told through battles or politics, but through the ordinary details: the food on the table, the clothes in the wardrobe, the songs that drifted through parlors at dusk.

The book is richly illustrated, marrying Fernando’s playful but meticulous prose with Ricio’s evocative design. Together, they assemble a mosaic of an era that was both genteel and turbulent, colonial and yet unmistakably Filipino. We glimpse fiestas, family rituals, courtship, schooling, and even the small inventions and amusements that defined leisure.