Night at the Fiestas

Night at the Fiestas is a 2015 story collection by New Mexican author Kirstin Valdez Quade. The collection won the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, and after its publication, Valdez Quade was recognized as a “Top 5 Writer Under 35” by the National Book Foundation. In 2021, Valdez Quade revised one of the stories, “The Five Wounds” into an award-winning novel of the same title, establishing herself as an important new voice in Latinx literature in the United States.

Like several of the characters in this collection, Kirstin Valdez Quade grew up in and around New Mexico. The daughter of a desert geologist, she creates stories that delve deeply into the state’s fraught colonial history and examine the complex sociopolitical landscape of an area whose Indigenous, Hispanic, and white populations have coexisted (although not always without conflict) for centuries. Valdez Quade is interested in big-picture questions about the impact of ethno-religious identity, race, class, and gender on individual lives, and she also examines the microcosms of fraught family systems. These stories take place in various eras, communities, and spaces, but they are united by their attention to characterization and setting, and each tale reflects the author’s keen understanding of the interplay between history, community, and identity in the American Southwest.

This guide refers to the 2015 paperback edition by W.W. Norton and Company.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of alcohol abuse and addiction, domestic violence, attempted suicide, anti-gay bias, gun violence, child abandonment, and murder.

Plot Summary

In the collection’s first story, “Nemecia,” a young girl named Nemecia moves in with her cousin Maria after her father brutally murders her grandfather and puts her mother into a coma. Maria, who is also young and does not know the particulars of this story, grows to resent Nemecia because of the favorable treatment she receives from Maria’s parents. The two girls clash in various ways over the years until teenaged Nemecia moves back in with her mother. Nemecia and Maria stay in touch as they age, but only when Maria becomes an adult is she finally able to meaningfully reflect on the trauma of Nemecia’s childhood and to forgive her cousin for the upheaval that her arrival brought to their childhood home.

In “Mojave Rats,” Monica and her husband, Eliot, rent a trailer at a park in the Mojave desert. They bring along their baby and Monica’s daughter from a previous marriage. Elliot, a geologist, is working on his PhD, and they are in the area so that he can collect geological specimens. Monica, who would prefer what she perceives as the glamorous life of a campus wife, is unhappy in the trailer park, but Eliot does not seem to mind its remote location or hardscrabble residents. One morning, Monica’s daughter misses the bus, setting off a chain of events that causes Monica to give away a cherished and expensive dress to one of their young neighbors. Although she initially considers the gift an act of charity for an underprivileged girl, she comes to regret her decision and wishes that she had saved the dress to give to her own daughter instead.

In “The Five Wounds,” Amadeo Padilla has been chosen to play Christ in his town’s Easter Passion Play. Amadeo is not devout, and he struggles with work and his other responsibilities. He still lives with his mother, Yolanda, and there are many in the area who feel that Amadeo is not serious or religious enough to play such an important role. In the days leading up to his performance, he fixates on the way that he will portray Jesus and ruminates on the teenage pregnancy of his own daughter, Angel, which he feels reflects poorly on him as a father and as a Catholic. However, as he spends more time with Angel, he considers his relationship with Angel’s mother, and for the first time, he casts a critical eye on his own shortcomings as a father. On the day of his performance, Angel walks beside him. Moved by her devotion to him, he finally understands the importance of family.

In “Night at the Fiestas,” teenage narrator Frances travels by bus from her home in Raton to Santa Fe in order to attend the city’s yearly Fiestas. Her father, the bus driver, tells stories that she believes to be embarrassing, and she does her best to keep her nose buried in a book, ignoring him. A man begins to harass her, and although Frances feels that she is can fend off his unwanted attention, she is relieved when he exits the bus. He leaves behind a paper bag, which Frances discovers is full of money. Later, when she is at the fiestas with her cousin, Frances encounters this man again. He is now intoxicated, and Frances cannot tell whether or not he has figured out that she took his money. She cannot lose herself in the celebratory atmosphere of the all-night party, so she walks to the bus station hours before her father’s bus will arrive and waits for him.

In “The Guest House,” siblings Jeff and Brooke gather at their grandmother’s house after her funeral. The two discuss whether to sell the property or rent it out to generate additional income, and they cannot decide which would be the better option. While they are talking, they get a call from their abusive, absentee father, Victor, and learn that he has been living in their grandmother’s guest house. Victor would like to remain in the guest house, and although Brooke is ready to forgive Victor and to allow him to stay, Jeff is skeptical. He and Victor have an explosive argument.

In “Family Reunion,” young narrator Claire is the sole atheist in her school of Mormon students, and she longs to fit in with her religious classmates. She finally makes a friend, a young girl named Morgan, who invites Claire to a family reunion. Claire is initially excited, but the trip does not go as planned. Morgan’s parents are experiencing marital difficulties, and Morgan’s mother copes with the stress through alcohol abuse. Morgan soon reveals her cruel streak, and both she and her mother judge Claire for her lack of religiosity, ignoring their own faults.

In “Jubilee,” narrator Andrea attends a party at the home of a wealthy family, the Lowells, who employ her father. She has just completed her first year at Stanford, as has Parker, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lowell. Andrea acutely feels the class differences between her own family and the Lowells, and this dynamic causes tension amongst the participants at the party, including her father, her friends, and Parker.

In “Ordinary Sins,” narrator Crystal works as a receptionist at her local Catholic church. Young, unmarried, and pregnant with twins, Crystal still enjoys going to parties and having casual sex. She feels guilty about her behavior, but she also struggles in her working relationship with both of the priests in her parish, one of whom she feels is too familiar, and the other too aloof. When one of the priests consumes alcohol after years of sobriety, Crystal comforts him. Crystal’s fraught relationship with church doctrine allows her to understand that everyone is capable of sinning.

In “Canute Commands the Tides,” retiree Margaret moves into a new house outside of Santa Fe. Her husband, a lawyer, must remain at their family home in Connecticut until he finishes a particularly complicated and demanding case. Margaret enlists the help of Carmen, a local cleaning lady and housekeeper, and the two strike up a friendship. One afternoon, Carmen shows up late to work with her granddaughter Autumn in tow, explaining that her son, Ruben, has her car. Ruben storms into the house later that evening, and an angry argument ensues. Although he accuses his mother of having stolen his child and Margaret tries to defend Carmen, Carmen becomes angry at Margaret rather than at Ruben. He discharges his firearm and injures Margaret’s dog, and Margaret grabs the dog and flees. She realizes that she does not grasp the complexity of Carmen’s family situation and that she will never truly understand the nature of Carmen’s relationship with her son.

In “The Manzanos,” young narrator Ofelia lives with her grandfather after having been abandoned by her mother. She has an illness whom no one has been able to diagnose or treat. She believes that her illness is the result of having been cursed by the evil eye. Although Ofelia’s grandfather reveals himself to have been an abusive father and husband and is the reason why his wife and daughter left their family, he is attentive and kind to Ofelia, and the two share a deep and unbreakable bond.