Woman of Light

In Woman of Light’s Book Club Guide, Kali Fajardo-Anstine describes her personal background, revealing how much of her family history intertwines with her fictional novel. Her description of previous generations implies the character Alfonso was her grandfather, making Lizette her grandmother Ester. She also mentions her “glamorous Auntie Lucy, gifted with the sight” and “a snake charming great uncle” (311), who appear in the story as the infant Lucille and her father Diego. Throughout the novel, Fajardo-Anstine emphasizes the ancestral background of main characters: Pidre is Indigenous Pueblo and Mexican, Simodecea is Mexican, and their daughter, Sara, has Diego and Luz with Benny, a French man. In turn, Diego and Luz identify with Lizette, a Latinx woman, referring to her as their cousin because of a shared, distant relative. Lizette marries Alfonso, a Filipino immigrant. Overall, Fajardo-Anstine emphasizes race to celebrate her own “nuanced blending of Pueblo Native American, Mexican, Filipino, and European ancestors” (311). Thus, while the novel contains fictional elements, the main characters are based on real relatives with rich lives. This decision lends credence to the novel’s setting and social issues.