Letters to Montgomery Clift — Noel Alumit

“Praying is not enough -- better put it in writing!” Bong Bong Luwad is living with his selfish Auntie Yuna in L.A., far from his Philippine village, the Marcos regime, and his mother who helped him escape. Bong Bong spends his nights watching old movies on TV, while Auntie Yuna writes pleading letters to saints and dead relatives. One night on the late-late movie, Bong Bong finds his own saint: Montgomery Clift, playing a soldier who helps a lost boy and his mother. Can Monty do the same for him? He gets out a pencil and paper and thus begins a series of extraordinary events that carry him from boyhood to adolescence, through sexual awakening, madness, and finally back to a place where he can begin his life again. 'Letters to Montgomery Clift' is a novel of endurance and hope. It is a tale of growing up, coming out, and going home.“Noël Alumit knows about loss, and alienation, and sorrow. Fortunately for the readers of his bittersweet first novel, he knows even more about resilience and hope. 'Letters to Montgomery Clift' brings us an authentic and compelling new voice that shimmers with generosity while never shrinking from the rawness of truth.”: Aimee E. Liu, author of 'Cloud Mountain'. “Noël Alumit will break your heart and then put it back together again with his absorbing and heartfelt first novel. 'Letters to Montgomery Clift' is a poignant journal of discovery and desire,a wicked storm of a story with a surprisingly graceful clearing.”: Peter Gadol author of 'Light at Dusk'.