Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir

This memoir about growing up in an actual mansion in the Philippines is a coming-of-age story. You know she's telling a true story, but it does in many ways read like a novel. It's bittersweet but, to be clear, mostly bitter. But there's a strong note of hope at the end and that comes from her unflagging courage in the face of unimaginable circumstances. Her mom came from money, her dad was a successful international businessman and the house represented everything they had achieved. But this is a riches-to-rags story. Thanks to real-life events in the Middle East, the one successful business run by her father begins to get shakier. Seeing clear trouble in the horizon financially, they use all the resources they have remaining to turn this mansion into a place they can rent out for events and movie shootings. Then, in a natural act that could not be more symbolic, a record-breaking monsoon comes and floods the home and ruins everything. It wipes them out and scatters the family and brings new shady characters in to live with Barnes and her family. They endure misfortune after misfortune. It feels unrelenting, but she tells all this in a very lyrical voice that's personal but feels universal.