May Day Eve and Other Stories is a quintet of unsettling tales of mystery, religious zeal, and passion. It features the title story "May Day Eve" as well as "Three Generations," "Doña Jeronima," "The Legend of the Dying Wanton," and "Guardia de Honor." Set during the Spanish colonial period, these narratives tap into the qualities of magic realism, romance, and historical fiction, as only the master Nick Joaquin can.

Nick Joaquin (1917-2004), novelist, playwright, poet, journalist, historian, and biographer, has been the recipient of almost all of the prestigious awards in literature and the arts, including the National Artist Award for Literature, the highest national recognition given to Filipino artists who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts and to the cultural heritage of the country. Widely regarded as the greatest Filipino writer of the twentieth century, he was also conferred, among other recognitions the Republic of Cultural Heritage Award for Literature in 1961; the Journalist of the Year Award in the early 1960s; the Book of the Year Award in 1979 for hiAlmanac for Manileños The National Book Award for several of his works; the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (the Asian counterpart of the Nobel Prize) in 1996; and the Tanglaw ng Lahi Award in 1997.