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The Fifth Sun
Winner of the 3rd Annual Miguel Mrmol Prize from Curbstone Press, Mary Helen Lagasse's The Fifth Sun is an inspiring story of an immigrant who struggles valiantly for a better life for herself and her family. The young Mexican woman, Mercedes, leaves her village to work as a housemaid in New Orleans. This fast-paced novel takes her through her adventures in New Orleans, her marriage, her struggle to raise her children, her -deportation, and her attempt to re-cross the river and be reunited with her children.
360 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
2 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Mary Helen Lagasse
2 booksShe is bilingual: American by birth, Latina by heritage. She received her degree from Tulane University, taught English Literature at private schools in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans.
Before turning to literary fiction, she worked as a freelance writer. Her stories having appeared in all major publications in and around New Orleans. Her articles ran the gamut of political, social, cultural, and human interest issues—in-depth interviews with governors, movers and shakers of industry—self-made millionaire oilmen in the heyday of the industry—slumlords, artists and craftsmen; Black Muslims, and lifers doing time at Angola Prison. In 1987 she won her first literary award in a statewide contest for her short story, "Survival of the Species," published in the Ellipsis, literary periodical of the University of New Orleans.
She is an active longtime member of the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society and past Executive Board Member of that organization. She is a member of The Authors Guild, and of the Women’s National Book Association.
Her debut novel, "The Fifth Sun," was awarded the Marmol Prize in a nation-wide competition, the Premio Atzlán, awarded by iconic author, Rudolfo Anaya, the 2005 Independent Publishers (IPPY) Best Multicultural Fiction Award, was a finalist for Foreword Magazine Best Book award, New Orleans Times-Picayune Best Books, and received numerous citations.
Her second novel, "Navel of the Moon," will be published by Northwestern U. Press, under the Curbstone imprint in June 20, 2015. Both novels will be available as eBooks, and the "Moon" book can be pre-ordered. Check it out!
Her essay "The Channel" published by Simon & Schuster in the "My New Orleans" collection was cited by the Los Angeles Times as a [deft] sketch of the more familiar multiculturalism of 20th century neighborhoods.
Mary Helen is an artist of the Old Masters tradition, working almost exclusively in oils. For the last few years she has joined fellow artists who paint under the supervision of artist par excellence, June Lampe', at her art studio in Metairie. She is a member of the Lyceum discussions group who read and study the works of the Existentialist philosophers.
And she is an avid supporter and contributor to a number of animal rights organizations.
Mary Helen has two sons, Donald and Gary. She lives in Metairie, a stone’s throw from the heart of New Orleans.
IN THE WORKS: She recently completed a collection of nine short stories titled "Taproot," and is presently working on a novel based on the 1830s construction of The New Basin Canal, New Orleans, where an inestimable number of Irish immigrant laborers died.
Before turning to literary fiction, she worked as a freelance writer. Her stories having appeared in all major publications in and around New Orleans. Her articles ran the gamut of political, social, cultural, and human interest issues—in-depth interviews with governors, movers and shakers of industry—self-made millionaire oilmen in the heyday of the industry—slumlords, artists and craftsmen; Black Muslims, and lifers doing time at Angola Prison. In 1987 she won her first literary award in a statewide contest for her short story, "Survival of the Species," published in the Ellipsis, literary periodical of the University of New Orleans.
She is an active longtime member of the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society and past Executive Board Member of that organization. She is a member of The Authors Guild, and of the Women’s National Book Association.
Her debut novel, "The Fifth Sun," was awarded the Marmol Prize in a nation-wide competition, the Premio Atzlán, awarded by iconic author, Rudolfo Anaya, the 2005 Independent Publishers (IPPY) Best Multicultural Fiction Award, was a finalist for Foreword Magazine Best Book award, New Orleans Times-Picayune Best Books, and received numerous citations.
Her second novel, "Navel of the Moon," will be published by Northwestern U. Press, under the Curbstone imprint in June 20, 2015. Both novels will be available as eBooks, and the "Moon" book can be pre-ordered. Check it out!
Her essay "The Channel" published by Simon & Schuster in the "My New Orleans" collection was cited by the Los Angeles Times as a [deft] sketch of the more familiar multiculturalism of 20th century neighborhoods.
Mary Helen is an artist of the Old Masters tradition, working almost exclusively in oils. For the last few years she has joined fellow artists who paint under the supervision of artist par excellence, June Lampe', at her art studio in Metairie. She is a member of the Lyceum discussions group who read and study the works of the Existentialist philosophers.
And she is an avid supporter and contributor to a number of animal rights organizations.
Mary Helen has two sons, Donald and Gary. She lives in Metairie, a stone’s throw from the heart of New Orleans.
IN THE WORKS: She recently completed a collection of nine short stories titled "Taproot," and is presently working on a novel based on the 1830s construction of The New Basin Canal, New Orleans, where an inestimable number of Irish immigrant laborers died.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 25, 2015
New Orleans stories have been of interest to me since my one & only visit to this fascinating city. The Fifth Sun is written from the perspective of a young Mexican woman in the early 20th century. Unfortunately circumstances have not changed very much in the last 100 years with regard to those who want leave their Mexican homeland for the United States.
July 20, 2008
I only finished this because parts of it took place in New Orleans.
April 22, 2008
This novel is about Mercedes Vasconcelos, a young Mexican woman convinced that the road to a better life for her and her growing family passes through the United States.
Set in the early 20th century, Mercedes is used to poverty while growing up in Mexico. Armed with a name and address, she takes a boat to New Orleans, to make a better life for herself. Around this time, she has a child out of wedlock, and is told, in effect, don’t come home.
Life is hard in 1930s New Orleans, but Mercedes becomes a housekeeper at a local rooming house, and she manages (sometimes just barely). She meets Manuela Maldonado, an older woman from the same part of Mexico. Manuela is a strong, proud woman who becomes a sort-of substitute mother to Mercedes.
When the housekeeping job ends, Mercedes and Manuela cook various food items, like tamales, and sell them door-to-door. Mercedes marries Jesus, who changes his name to Jesse, and has several sons. One of them is born with severe digestive problems, and doesn’t live very long.
The family is sent back to Mexico. Letters from Manuela assure Mercedes and Jesus that their three boys will have no problem returning to New Orleans, and can stay with her (they were born in America). Through a bureaucratic snafu, Mercedes and Jesus are not allowed to join them. The reason is the concern that Mercedes and Jesus will immediately go on welfare, despite the total lack of evidence that the two ever used welfare in the past. After months and months of separation, a very pregnant Mercedes enlists a coyote to take her across the Rio Grande River.
This story of the Mexican immigrant experience is a quiet tale from a native of New Orleans, but a really good tale and is well worth reading.
Set in the early 20th century, Mercedes is used to poverty while growing up in Mexico. Armed with a name and address, she takes a boat to New Orleans, to make a better life for herself. Around this time, she has a child out of wedlock, and is told, in effect, don’t come home.
Life is hard in 1930s New Orleans, but Mercedes becomes a housekeeper at a local rooming house, and she manages (sometimes just barely). She meets Manuela Maldonado, an older woman from the same part of Mexico. Manuela is a strong, proud woman who becomes a sort-of substitute mother to Mercedes.
When the housekeeping job ends, Mercedes and Manuela cook various food items, like tamales, and sell them door-to-door. Mercedes marries Jesus, who changes his name to Jesse, and has several sons. One of them is born with severe digestive problems, and doesn’t live very long.
The family is sent back to Mexico. Letters from Manuela assure Mercedes and Jesus that their three boys will have no problem returning to New Orleans, and can stay with her (they were born in America). Through a bureaucratic snafu, Mercedes and Jesus are not allowed to join them. The reason is the concern that Mercedes and Jesus will immediately go on welfare, despite the total lack of evidence that the two ever used welfare in the past. After months and months of separation, a very pregnant Mercedes enlists a coyote to take her across the Rio Grande River.
This story of the Mexican immigrant experience is a quiet tale from a native of New Orleans, but a really good tale and is well worth reading.
November 30, 2015
I had to read this book for school. It wasn't torture to read, which is always appreciated. It was a pretty enjoyable read, there were just a lot of things I didn't like about it. I'm never a fan of books that cover a big period of time like this one, because I always feel like I'm missing out on things. I also didn't like the random characters that would appear for a paragraph or a chapter, seemingly have no purpose, and then disappear again. That's very realistic to how life is, I realize, but I don't like it in my books. It would have been really cool if all of the random characters got tied together in a nice little bow in the end, but that's not what happened so I'm left wondering why they were even in the book at all. In terms of characters, there were only one or two side characters that I actually liked. I didn't really mind Mercedes while I was reading the book, like she didn't actively annoy me and get in the way of my enjoyment of this book, but when I think about her character and everything that she went through in the book, there's not really anything to like. And I wasn't really a fan of the ending. It left too many lose ends, too many things unexplained, and it cut off right in the middle of the main struggle of the book. This probably isn't a book I'd ever read again, but it was still definitely better than a lot of books I've had to read for school.
June 8, 2014
This historical novel feels entirely engaged with a collective experience and singular at the same time. Mercedes is a protagonist that Lagasse creates with an almost journalistic distance from her subject, which allows the reader to see into the darkest corners of human interaction.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews