Woman of Light

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of racism and racist violence as well as sexual assault.

In Woman of Light, Kali Fajardo-Anstine discusses the double burden of women—especially BIPOC and Latinx women. The female characters are responsible for children—bearing their own and often caring for others. For example, Luz’s aunt Teresita babysits the children of other working mothers. When Luz’s uncle Eduardo tells Lizette that she does not have to help with babysitting, Teresita berates him for not supporting her; yet, she acknowledges women have little control over men while tending an injured Diego. Many male characters accept little responsibility for their children, either out of indifference or failure to understand the female experience. Even when mothers can no longer take care of their children, this being the case for Simodecea and Sara, they send them to places where they will find acceptance and love. Simodecea and Pidre’s dynamic is one of the healthier relationships in the novel, but even Pidre fails to heed her warnings regarding the encroachment of their land. Furthermore, while he genuinely sympathizes with her history—her loss of a partner and injured legs—he can never understand the struggle of sustaining oneself as a woman with this history.