Woman of Light

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3, Chapter 24 Summary: “The Sharpshooter Simodecea Salazar-Smith”

Pidre designs an outdoor entertainment show centered on Simodecea, and her affection grows. One night, she asks if they can go to his cabin, and they make love. Another night, Mickey waits for her outside of Pidre’s cabin and criticizes her for their relationship. Simodecea responds, “You know who else was jealous […] The fallen angel […] Be careful who you model yourself after” (201). The couple eventually have two daughters, Sara and Maria Josie. When the girls are six and seven, Simodecea notices the encroachment of tents on the ridge above the amphitheater. Pidre explains these tents house radium miners. He learns that a train track runs near Pardona and decides to take his family to see where he grew up. When they arrive at Pardona, they find it is a ghost town. Pidre goes to his grandmother Desiderya’s grave. He tells her that he misses her and has brought his family to see her: “Simodecea stepped forward. She hung her head. With certainty in her heart, she knew bad days were to come” (209).

Part 3, Chapter 25 Summary: “A Life of Her Own”

One day, when Lizette longs for liberty, Natalya sends her to a Catholic convent home for pregnant unwed white women to collect a bill. The nuns are unpleasant, and as she prepares to leave, she sees Eleanor Anne, who is obviously with child. Eleanor Anne approaches her: “Please, she mouthed to Lizette, don’t tell” (217). Lizette silently promises to not tell.

Part 3, Chapter 26 Summary: “Shelter from The Storm”

One morning, when Luz and David are at his law firm, they hear unusual sounds. David goes out to determine the source of the noise, then sprints back in and tells Luz to come with him into his inner office. They lock the door and hide beneath his desk, as the KKK protests and breaks into the outer office. David begins to touch and kiss Luz. Worried that he will attempt to take her “virginity” in this setting, she tells him to stop. He stands up and declares the mob is gone.

Part 3, Chapter 27 Summary: “A Day Without Work”

Maria Josie enters a serious relationship with a white doctor named Ethel. This worries Luz, who fears Ethel might take her aunt away and leave her homeless.

Meanwhile, the material for Lizette’s wedding gown arrives, and she excitedly examines it with Luz. She explains Alfonso found a small home for them that will become the new go-to place for their parties.

One day in May 1934, no one has to work. The three couples—Maria Josie and Ethel, Luz and Avel, and Lizette and Alfonso—have a picnic on top of Lookout Mountain. Luz notes, “It had been a long time, maybe forever, since they could all be together without work” (232). Avel takes her aside and shows her a gold ring, explaining he wants to marry her. At first, she feels confused and uncertain. As they discuss matrimony, Luz finally agrees to get married, although she wants to keep the decision between the two of them for the time being.

Part 3, Chapter 28 Summary: “Where the World Registers”

While Natalya fits Luz for her bridesmaid’s dress, Luz and Lizette discuss the latter’s ambivalence toward her engagement. They discuss whether marriage is a matter of true love or contract. When Luz gets home, she finds David waiting to take her to dinner because a grand jury agreed to investigate Estevan’s death. He takes her to the exclusive Browns Palace. She asks for tea so she can do a reading for David. Luz becomes overwhelmed and envisions herself in the ring where Simodecea accidentally shot her husband. Returning to her senses, she insists that David take her home.

Part 3 Analysis

Most of Part 3’s chapters start placidly, describing joyous or hopeful circumstances. However, as they proceed, they build toward the ominous and unknown. In Chapter 24, Simodecea and Pidre build a life together, but uncertainty arises with the unannounced arrival of miners. Despite Pidre being raised by the clairvoyant Desiderya, it is Simodecea who senses danger—as if The Arduous Journey of Women transcends formal bonds. In Chapter 25, Lizette sees a panicked Eleanor Anne at a Catholic convent home and honors their shared womanhood by keeping the sighting a secret. By contrast, when the KKK storms David’s law firm in Chapter 26, he takes the opportunity to make a sexual pass at Luz. After the threat passes, he acts as if nothing happened. This behavior complicates his portrayal as a man fighting The Impact of Racism and Discrimination, as it reinforces his entitlement as a man, his little regard for a girl—an employee at that—who just turned 18. The relaxing picnic of Chapter 27 is also disrupted by a man: Avel proposes to an ambivalent Luz, and she accepts. In Chapter 28, her reading of David’s future becomes a recollection of her grandmother Simodecea’s accidental shooting. As turbulent as these moments are, they connect the women of Luz’s family across time. In fact, this turbulence stems from the very loss of control that Teresita spoke of in Chapter 5. Just as Simodecea recognizes Pardona’s disappearance as beyond her or Pidre’s control, so does Luz regarding her passion for David—this juxtaposition illustrating Luz’s youth. She insists she isn’t a child, yet David, being a man of privilege—her employer—has power over her that she fails to recognize as coercive due to her youth. This mindset extends to her relationship with Avel, for whom she lacks passion but doesn’t reject.