Portada del libro La mujer de la luz

Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s 'Woman of Light' brings to life the 1930's Chicana/o culture in Colorado

CMC's Common Reader engages students, staff and community members and culminates with author visits

Where to get your copy of Woman of Light

CMC’s Common Reader Program this year celebrates our new designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution with author Kali Fajardo-Anstine, a Colorado native and National Book Award Finalist. Kali’s book, Woman of Light, is a historical fiction about the Chicana/o experience in the 1930’s in Denver, Colorado.  

Woman of Light invites us to step into the wildly entertaining and complex cast of characters in this dazzling epic story of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West.

More about "Woman of Light"

There is one every generation, a seer who keeps the stories.

Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob.

As Luz navigates 1930s Denver, she begins to have visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory. Luz recollects her ancestors’ origins, how her family flourished, and how they were threatened. She bears witness to the sinister forces that have devastated her people and their homelands for generations.

In the end, it is up to Luz to save her family stories from disappearing into oblivion.

Written in Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s singular voice, the wildly entertaining and complex lives of the Lopez family fill the pages of this multigenerational western saga.

Woman of Light is a transfixing novel about survival, family secrets, and love—filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, all of whom are just as special, memorable, and complicated as our beloved heroine, Luz.

Meet the Author

March 27, 2023
CMC Breckenridge
Author talk, book signing 7pm

CMC Breckenridge Live Stream on Zoom

March 28, 2023
CMC Leadville
Author talk, book signing 7pm

March 29, 2023
Morgridge Commons, Glenwood Springs
Author talk, book signing 7pm

Glenwood Springs Live Stream on Zoom

March 30, 2023
CMC Vail Valley at Edwards
Author talk, book signing 7pm

Book Copies

eAudiobooks and eBooks are available from the Virtual Library through the Libby app.

Pick up a hard copy of Woman of Light at these locations...

CMC Aspen
Front Desk

CMC Breckenridge - Dillon
Campus Front Entrances
Summit County Libraries

CMC Carbondale
Front Desk

CMC Central Services
Executive Suite, 3rd Floor
Garfield County Libraries

CMC Leadville
New Discovery Reception
Lake County Public Library

CMC Glenwood Springs
Front Desk
Glenwood Springs Branch Library

CMC Rifle
Front Desk
Garfield County Public Libraries

CMC Salida
Front Desk
Salida Regional Library

CMC Spring Valley
Ascent Center Front Desk

CMC Steamboat Springs
CMC Steamboat Springs Campus Library

CMC Vail Valley
Front Desk