Big Island of Hawaii (BlackNews.com) - Rufus Daigle was born in Lafayette and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam in 1967-1968 and holds a journalism degree from Southern Methodist University. Mr. Daigle has published three books of poetry and is an impressionistic style painter. He currently resides on the Big Island of Hawaii.His recently published first novel, Felicia's Prince of the Morning Star, follows the life of Angelo Lafleur in Louisiana and Vietnam. A coming-of-age story, Felicia’s Prince of the Morning Star explores the damaging psychological effects of racism and poverty as seen through the eyes of a sensitive and artistic young black artist. It examines the horrors and destruction of war and its lasting legacy on the human psyche through the troubled and soulful voice of a young man searching for life’s meaning.
The world into which Angelo Lafleur is born in 1948 is not an easy one. Angelo’s mother, Vidol, with only a sixth-grade education, cleans house for the white people who live across the tracks. Raising Angelo and his siblings is a struggle, and Angelo vows that one day he will forge a new destiny for himself. As Angelo grows he yearns to become an artist, but realizes in his teens that the military may be his only route to a college education. He also yearns for the physical challenge and the discipline required of military service. As a Marine Corps soldier, Angelo serves his country in the Vietnam War, witnessing events that will haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.
Mr. Daigle writes of life and relationships with the rhythym and intensity of a poet:
"In these days Vidol worshipped images, “Jesus at Gethsemane” hung against the south wall, the “Black Stallion” she touched as she headed towards the game room, and “Wisdom” graced the living room entrance, the old man’s white beard and soft words flowing past her tears. She had elements of Angelo’s life around her, and knew by heart the white expanse that surrounded his eyes, the dimpled shoulders that touched her thighs as she scratched his scalp. He had once come in silence from the depths of her womb, closer to death than life, a wet crimson figurine dangling between pyramids. He had left everything behind, and walked off into the bowels of a war, to a time of dysfunctional pendulums."
Felicia's Prince of the Morning Star offers a compelling and poignant message of reverence for the black legacy of survival and of overcoming life's obstacles while still holding onto our dreams and our humanity.
Felicia's Prince of the Morning Star, by Rufus Daigle, is available through the publisher at: www.trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000181661, or by contacting Trafford Publishing Company by telephone at 1-888-232-4444.
PRESS CONTACT:
Rufus Daigle
catmanru2000@aol.com
(808) 936-9272
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