Crying Mountain by Criselda Yabes is a moving tale of courage and love, set against the Zamboanga crisis in the Southern Philippines in the 1970s. In Crying Mountain, the Moro Rebellion that broke out in the Sulu archipelago in the 1970s, and that continues to wound the nation, is seen vividly through the lives of the mestiza Rosy Wright, the Tausug girl Nahla, the rebel leader Prof. Hassan, the soldier Capt. Rodolfo as well as in the quest of the book’s narrator. The personal is political as war fuels the clash of emotions, histories and cultures. The story traces the lives of Jolo residents Rosy France Wright, a half-American girl who elopes with a Muslim professor from Christian Zamboanga to Muslim Jolo, leaving behind her husband-without-ceremony, Omar Hassan, her best friend, Nahla, a Tausug girl and Jolo local, Captain Rodolfo, who becomes Nahla’s lover. The events take place against the backdrop of the escalation of communal and other tensions during the 70’s and 80’s. Through the eyes of the narrator the reader is able to follow the transformation of Jolo—from its former glory days of prestigious parties to the ushering in of a new era of more zealous religious observance.