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 be rich and will make everyone pay for his poor status in life. As Angelo grows he yearns to become an artist, but in his teens, he hears the call of the military. He wants to accept the pain and experience the denial and the discipline. 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. A coming-of-age story, Felicia's Prince of the Morning Star explores the damaging psychological effects of racism and poverty and all of its complexities as seen through the eyes of a sensitive and artistic young black artist. It examines 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.
