Finding Connection Between Pages
How I Bonded With My Close Friend Ona While Reading “The Familiar”
How I Bonded With My Close Friend Ona While Reading “The Familiar”
When the Savannah Book Festival announced Leigh Bardugo would be doing the closing address I bought a ticket immediately. The 50-year-old fantasy author from Los Angeles is best known for creating the Grishaverse and Ninth House, the first book of hers I read. I braved a new genre reading The Familiar, a historical fantasy novel that follows Luzia as she uses her little miracles to try and win nobility while also keeping the truth of her ancestry secret. Leigh Bardugo took me back to 16th century Madrid, she taught me about the Spanish Inquisition using complex characters and a layered plot, rich in culture. The Familiar quickly became one of my favorite books and a way to connect with one of my close friends, Ona.
In my freshman year of college I met Ona in my public speaking class. She’s an international student from Barcelona, Spain, studying fashion marketing. In the four years we’ve been friends I’ve learned bits and pieces of Catalan, tried tortilla de patatas, and even have my own Caga Tió sitting on my mantel. Naturally, I turned to her for help when reading The Familiar. I learned the pronunciation of each character's name, simple phrases, and other cultural differences. The connection I feel with this book is rooted in friendship and how it brought me closer to Ona.
When I arrived at Trustees Theater for the Leigh Bardugo panel I silently thanked Ona for taking the time to educate me. The first thing Bardugo talked about was her ancestry. One side of her family is Russian and Lithuanian, the other is Spanish and Morrocan, a driving factor she often referred back to when talking about her inspiration for the novel. “So this book was a way to understand that history and to kind of draw those branches backwards,” she said.Whenever she spoke about specific research, food, or places from The Familiar I felt a spark of excitement in my stomach. It’s like being a part of the popular kids in school. Finishing the book is rewarding, but it’s even better when you walk away feeling like you’ve learned so many new things.
Towards the end of the panel, Bardugo welcomed the audience's questions. I was scribbling in my notebook trying to absorb every piece of advice she gave to aspiring writers like myself. “I know it is hard that the only thing, the only way you fail is if you stop, so you must not stop,” she said. One of the last questions asked was about a group of hostages in Gaza who passed around Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. They eventually got in touch after being released, however, this particular interaction is something she kept to herself. Her words had impacted people even thousands of miles away. “And I think for me, it’s just a testimony to the fact that stories are universal and I hope that in the future they will be the thing that helps to bring us together.” That’s exactly what Bardugo did, even if it seems like pure luck that it happened to be her book. “The thing about becoming a writer that I didn’t anticipate, is that your books go places you’ve never heard of,” she said, “and they reach people who you will never meet.”
Maybe I’m just an empathetic person, or I'm overly sensitive, but in that theater Leigh Bardugo touched a soft spot beneath my sternum. I was sitting in a red cushioned seat thinking about every time I turned to Ona and said, “Am I saying this right?” or “Is wine and lemonade good?” Then the questions would turn into hour long conversations about Barcelona, and the cost of plane tickets and learning Spanish on Duolingo so I can talk to her mom on the phone. After every off topic conversation I asked the same questions again. Saying each character's name and butchering it until she slowly pronounced each syllable. Guillén (gee-YEN), took me the longest to understand. My American brain was on auto-pilot throwing around words like gill, yes, the thing fishes breathe from, but after repeating his name more times than I can count, I finally can confidently say Guillén. It sounds like a small victory, but It helped me to feel closer to each character.
Through powerful female characters, deep-rooted history, and vibrant storytelling, Bardugo brought me closer to Ona. Everytime I flip through the pages I’ll hear bubbling laughter and tortilla de patatas sizzling in a pan. As Luzia welcomed Guillén, Ona welcomed me. An odd pair from the outside, her in a pink sweater with some sort of designer bag, me in a green barn jacket wearing animal bone earrings. Despite our differences, we both love reading. Whether it’s me going on a rant about Valentina's amazing redemption from The Familiar or her telling me about sapphic romance, we connect through writing. In the world we live in today, being with friends or reading is like escapism. A way to forget about everything else and fully submerge yourself into 16th century Madrid. As Leigh Bardugo said on NPR FreshAir, “And in books, I wasn't lonely. I wasn't afraid.”