Woman of Light

Discuss the significance of the novel's title, Woman of Light. What role does light play in the book?

Which character was your favorite, and why?

How does the novel address the importance of storytelling? How do you think we inherit the stories of our ancestors and what power do they hold over us? If you are comfortable with it, share a story about one of your ancestors and discuss the ways it influenced your life.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine writes, "Sometimes men were like that, treating a girl's voice as if it had slipped from her mouth and fallen directly into a pit." How does the author give the women of this novel a voice?

Discuss the novel's visual imagery, from the landscape to the characters' clothing. How does the author bring the setting to life?

How is Woman of Light a new narrative of the American West? How does it compare to older, more textbook literature in this canon?

Fajardo-Anstine writes of Pidre, "He couldn't help but think that Anglos were perhaps the most dangerous storytellers of all-for they believed only their own words, and they allowed their stories to trample the truths of nearly every other man on Earth." How does Woman of Light recenter Indigenous Chicano storytelling? Why do you think that's important? Did reading this novel make you want to seek out other voices that have been sidelined throughout history-and literary history? Explain.

There are several fantastic elements to the novel, like a clairvoyant tea-leaf reader. Why do you think the author decided to include these elements, and how did they enhance the story?

"School doesn't make you smart, Luz," Ethel tells her. "It's just a type of training. Real intelligence that comes from our grit, our ability to read the world around us." Do you agree? Why or why not? 10. The novel's timeline shifts as Luz has visions about her ancestors, and as Fajardo-Anstine reveals more to the reader about the past. How did these shifts affect your reading experience? What does Woman of Light have to say about the passing of time, and how things do and do not change?

"Luz felt partly made of mountains," Fajardo-Anstine writes, "as if the land was family." Discuss this quotation, and the role that land-and ownership-play in the novel. Consider things like the names of towns, and both official and "unofficial" claims of ownership.

What messages do you think Fajardo-Anstine was sending about the themes of family, legacy, and land? How did you feel when you finished the book?