... rejects such simplicity, asking readers to consider the ways the past might move through and around each generation, emerging into the present in complicated ways ... Fajardo-Anstine writes effortlessly stunning sentences, each unspooling to create a rich and engrossing tableau. In fact, Woman of Light is much like the visions Desiderya experiences, plunging readers into an unfamiliar past, one that seems to hold vital truths if only we will see them ... a sprawling and gorgeous exploration of the land we have come from, the past we have failed to acknowledge and the persistence of stories through time and space.
I get that the term "transportive" is overused in blurbs, but I don’t know how else to describe this gorgeous novel from Kali Fajardo-Anstine. I was swept away by Woman of Light ... In beautiful, decadent prose, Fajardo-Anstine shows us everything from traveling circus acts and fortune tellers, to turn of the century Denver nightlife, house parties and wedding festivities. This is a love letter to the American West that was left out of the classic cowboy films, to the Indigenous and Latinx communities who have lived there for centuries. I loved every word.
Combining extensive research with a propulsive narrative that spans decades, Fajardo-Anstine delivers a historical novel that never feels like a history lesson. She does so in prose often joyous and warm but unsparing in its depiction of oppression based on race, gender and class. Mysterious and vivid, Woman of Light is an extraordinary painting of a vibrant world both old and new.
Fajardo-Anstine deftly weaves in chronicles of Colorado and the American West throughout, allowing Luz’s ancestors to bear witness to the forces of Westward Expansion, political corruption, and poverty-driven migration ... a Western novel—it cares deeply about the landscape. The terrain of the Lost Territory teems with life, even as settling pioneers call it empty. The cold mountains and expansive plains of Colorado serve as stand-ins for the harsh realities Luz endures. No land can be truly conquered. No people can be truly conquered either. Not as long as their stories, and their memories, endure ... Grief and loss are centered in the novel, but even in these moments of grief it is possible to find joy. Luz and her family find happiness in food, long conversations, and spontaneous picnics, the little celebrations that give life its meaning. Luz — Little Light that she is — like so many women in her family, holds onto hope in the face of unspeakable pain. She doesn’t have to see clearly to know that good things will come too.
... retains a mythic quality ... Denver plays a starring role in Woman of Light, from the church-sponsored carnivals to the Greek market and the Opportunity School where Luz takes typing classes. The setting provides a rich, multicultural perspective of the American West, and while Fajardo-Anstine underscores the systemic racism in U.S. history (the threat of the Klu Klux Klan is ever present), she never does so at the expense of her characters’ resilience and hope ... truly absorbing as it chronicles one woman’s journey to claim her own life in the land occupied by her family for generations.
Fajardo-Anstine describes Denver with a pleasing solidity, its shops, bars and carnivals and small bands of enemies and allies carrying a detailed everyday heft. She offers a fascinatingly rich setting that depicts American western self-mythologisation in the making ... The prose weakens when reaching for a certain classic register. There are unnecessary Reader’s Digest novel-like chapter headings ... There is no need for such try-hard phrases, as the raw stuff of Fajardo-Anstine’s world is so fascinating. When it isn’t straining for similes and metaphors, the writing becomes easy and muscular ... Fajardo-Anstine is brilliant at evoking the everyday resilience of people carrying centuries of history in their souls in a charged present day that offers advancement and change alongside violence and insult ... achieves something very satisfying as a soapy, immersive saga – a feat of old-school storytelling.
Fajardo-Anstine’s compelling writing paints a convincing portrait of a city in flux, haunted by white violence, and portrays a complex female friendship, a vivid love story (or three), and a story of family and memory in the American West.
Impressive if underdeveloped ... Depictions of the Lost Territory are vivid and well-informed ... Unfortunately, Fajardo-Anstine’s Denver lacks the same historical precision she gives to the Lost Territory portions, and is limited to a few plugged-in period details. Despite the uneven effort, it’s clear this author has talent to spare.
A sprawling novel ... While the novel shines light on many deplorable events and attitudes from the U.S. past...it fails to fully illuminate Luz. She’s a conduit to the past rather than a fully developed character with her own rich inner life ... The novel’s rush to a happy ending means we don’t get to see Luz wrestle with this impossible choice. A lush, immersive historical novel about the American Southwest that almost soars.
