An endless festival amidst an endless war is the central image of this novel of the Philippines of the time of Marcos. Three young people seek relief from the suffocating repression and brutality of the Dictatorship by joining an ancient festival in the island of K----. They find instead that the war has followed them and that the festival is but a metaphor for an entire society and culture in conflict. The three find distinct destinies of death, liberation, affirmation and ultimately, salvation. This book is now considered a classic of Philippine literature.