3.5 rounding up. I would have liked it better if there were less emphasis on the men in the MC's life and more of the connections between the generations of women and their families. ( )

Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s book Woman of Light is a masterpiece. It’s an artfully-woven, beautiful tapestry of words with the ability to transport us through time to glimpse bits of a family’s life from generation to generation. It is so rare to find an author whose words form such a lyrical, resounding melody. It is also a book that made a very deep, emotional impression on me; one that will stay with me and changed the way I view the world a little, by making my world view broader. It will join just a handful of books I have read that have had this kind of profound impact on me.
It tells the story of Luz, “Little Light”, a vibrant young woman of mixed heritage who brings to life for us her family’s history in the Western U.S. through the ability of “seeing” visions of a person’s future or past, in their tea leaves. Oftentimes she is transported and lives through a particular moment of her family’s past, and sometimes, of what is to come. In this way she “sees” and “feels” the tragedy faced by her family in past generations of some of the horrors yet to come.
We learn of the love story and tragedy of Luz and her big brother Diego’s maternal grandparents, and, in turn, their children: Luz and Diego’s mother, Sara, and her sister, Maria Josie; one of the ultimately buckling and caving in to the tragedy and abuse of her situation and the stronger one rising above it.
She and her brother were taken in as children by their mother’s sister, her Auntie, Maria Josie in Denver, Colorado. They meet their cousins for the first time, and Luz and her cousin Lizette become inseparable—playing together, and working together until they are separated years later by Lizette’s marriage. Through their eyes we witness the racism and injustice so rampant in the area at the time and their efforts to live their lives to the best of their ability under such circumstances. We watch as Luz and her brother are torn apart by these circumstances, and Diego is cast out. We are side by side with Luz through her first experiences of romantic love and heartbreak. The horrors, tragedy and devastation that took place at the hands of European conquerors and later white supremacists is, as always, hard to read about; but as always, must be faced and acknowledged. And, ultimately, we are left with hope as Luz, the Woman of Light, is ready to take her own place in the world. ( )

A stunningly beautiful multigenerational story of a family originally from “the lost territory” and ending up in Denver. I loved the connections between the generations, particularly with the women, and found it very refreshing to read a “western” that was so female-focused and told a non-white historical view of events. So much meaning is found in all the layers of the interconnected histories of the family, I was completely captivated by each one. I highly recommend to anyone interested in historical fiction, indigenous history, family sagas, and mystical connections to ancestors - including the author’s own that inspired the book. Let’s put it this way - I loved this so much I could pick it up and reread it again right now. It’s that gorgeous. ( )

It wasn’t badly written or anything. I just couldn’t get into it. Too many characters all at once and descriptions of the smallest thing almost every other paragraph.

This is a multi-generational story spanning many years. Luz Lopez is "Little Light" and has a gift for reading tea leaves. She admires her elder brother, Diego, but when her father leaves them, Diego is later made to leave town by an angry mob. Luz begins to work for a lawyer in Denver, David, who is defending the Mexican and Indian people against ridiculous charges. Luz begins to have visions of her family and her homeland, the "Lost Territory". She is concerned for Diego and begs him to return to their family. Part coming-of-age, part family history, this is a sweeping tale of the indigenous people of America and how they tried to fight to retain their land and their rights. ( )