‘Queen of the Clueless:’ Flitting into forbidden love territory

What was enthralling about Mina Esguerra’s second installment of the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy is how it retells Filipino myths for millennials who might otherwise be apathetic towards Philippine myths.

In Queen of the Clueless, (Bright Girl Books, 2013) Chapter 1 retells the myth of Malakas and Maganda to talk about the story behind “Maganda’s Regret,” a large painting that protagonist Hannah Maquiling visits with her human date, Robbie Carlos. The painting shows “a beautiful woman, in a plain white dress, standing over a lush, green landscape. She was looking back at something, off to the side, away from the beautiful forest. She looked sad.”