Melinda Palacio
 |
| Mary Helen Lagasse |
I've
known New Orleans author Mary Helen Lagasse for a few years. She's the only
author I know who was born in New Orleans, but whose parents are from Mexico. Lagasse
emphasized that her father instilled a pride in being Mexican and only allowed
his children to speak Spanish inside the house. She regrets not retaining a
strong command of the language. Her first novel,
The Fifth Sun (Curbstone Press
2004), won the Miguel Mármol Prize and the Premio Aztlán Literary Prize. Eleven years later, Curbstone also published her new novel,
Navel of the Moon, which mines Lagasse's
childhood in the Irish Channel of New Orleans. The Irish Channel, a
neighborhood settled by Irish immigrants in the early 19th Century.
Set
in the 1960-70s Irish Channel, the novel is the coming of age story of Vicenta
Lumière, "Vicky," a young girl whose street and intellectual savvy
lead her to become a journalist who visits Lonnie, her childhood friend, in
prison. It's clear from Vicky's feisty and precocious personality that she will
prevail. What makes this book endearing is the sense of community brought to
the place and the secrets that unfold as Vicky befriends a holocaust survivor
and her sister.
Heart
of the Channel was the working title of the novel. Lagasse says she
reserves the right to settle on a final title until the themes become more
defined, a process that takes three or four drafts. At the center of Navel of the Moon is Mimi, Vicky's
grandmother, who steals the show from Vicky as she delivers the title line and
declares to Vicky and her friend that she is from the navel of the moon. For
Vicky, a traviesa dreamer who wants to right the wrongs of the world around
her, the navel of the moon symbolizes a place of safety and refuge, says
Lagasse. For the grandmother, navel of the moon is the more literal term for
the nahuatl word for mexica.
Betrayal
is a central theme of Lagasse's novel, from betrayal of the Catholic priests to
betrayal among family and friends, Lagasse weaves a truthful story and infuses
her characters with so much complexity that the novel reads like non-fiction.
However, the author assures us that the events and characters are made up. "Some
of my most vivid or 'real' characters sprung whole and complete from my
imagination," Lagasse said, "Valentina Himel and her sister, The Cat
Layd, Holocaust survivors are one hundred percent fictional, as are the
parental figures." But the adage of write what you know certainly adds
vividness to the novel set in the milieu of Mary Helen's real childhood in New
Orleans. For Lagasse, lyricism and word choice are important in her narrative.
"I will wrestle to find the right word that moves me," she said.
"I strive for a beautifully written work." Lagasse also took the
photograph to the cover of Navel of the
Moon. She taught herself Photoshop to produce the perfect cover for her
novel.
Lagasse's
next book takes on the subject of Irish immigrant workers who died at the New
Basin Construction site in New Orleans. Her current working title for this book
is Brigid Fury.
