The Familiar – Chapter 57: Author’s Note

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Leigh Bardugo’s Author’s Note opens with an explanation of refranes (proverbs) in Ladino—the Judeo-Spanish language that threads through the novel. She acknowledges that the exact origins of these sayings are impossible to pinpoint, and that placing them in the sixteenth-century setting of the story is an anachronistic choice, made deliberately to honour how such sayings travel across oceans and centuries.

Bardugo then addresses historical liberties. For dramatic purposes, she altered the dates and certain details of Lucrecia de León’s imprisonment by the Spanish Inquisition. Likewise, the timeline and circumstances of Antonio Pérez’s fall from grace and his flight from Spain have been compressed. She notes that Pérez did escape captivity multiple times, believing his ability to do so was written in the stars. He eventually reached England, where scholars believe he inspired the character of Don Adriano de Armado in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. After Pérez’s property was seized by the Spanish crown, La Casilla—the house that appears in the novel—became a convent.

Key Events

Bardugo reveals that the refranes in the novel are anachronistic, crossing time to reach the characters.
The dates and circumstances of Lucrecia de León’s imprisonment by the Inquisition were altered for dramatic urgency.
Antonio Pérez’s flight from Spain and his captivity escapes are condensed; his belief in astrological prophecy is highlighted.
Pérez is connected to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost as a possible inspiration for Don Adriano de Armado.
The fate of La Casilla: it became a convent after the crown seized Pérez’s property.

Character Development

Luzia Cotrado: While not named directly in the note, the refranes are described as crossing oceans and miles to find her, reinforcing her role as a bridge between cultures and eras.
Lucrecia de León: The historical figure’s real story is acknowledged, with Bardugo clarifying fictional adjustments made for the narrative.
Antonio Pérez: His historical journey—from Spanish courtier to exile in England—is summarised, and his superstitious nature is noted.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Anachronism and Cultural Transmission: Bardugo justifies her use of refranes from later periods as a deliberate choice to show how language and wisdom travel across time, not just geography.
History vs. Story: The note draws a clear line between historical fact and dramatic invention, inviting readers to consider the compromises authors make when adapting real lives.
Fate and Prophecy: Pérez’s belief that his escapes were foretold by the stars echoes the novel’s preoccupation with destiny and the occult.
Legacy and Transformation: La Casilla’s conversion into a convent reflects the way spaces and stories are repurposed by history.

Why This Chapter Matters

The Author’s Note closes The Familiar by grounding its fantastical elements in real historical figures and linguistic traditions. It clarifies the author’s creative liberties, especially concerning the Inquisition and Antonio Pérez, while paying tribute to Ladino as a living language. For readers, this chapter adds depth to the novel’s treatment of magic, prophecy, and cultural identity by showing how the author wove fact with fiction. It also models how historical novelists balance authenticity with dramatic necessity.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Bardugo include refranes from different time periods?
She explains that it is difficult to know precisely when and where such sayings originated, and that the ones she used likely did not exist in that exact form in the 1500s. She “found it acceptable to let them cross time” because they are essential to Ladino and represent how the language lives on across centuries and continents.

2. What historical liberties does Bardugo take with the story of Antonio Pérez?
She altered the dates and some circumstances of his fall from grace and flight from Spain. While he did escape captivity multiple times (and believed his ability to do so was foretold in the stars), the novel compresses these events for dramatic urgency. She also notes that he ended up in England and possibly inspired a Shakespeare character.

3. What happened to La Casilla after Antonio Pérez fled Spain?
After Pérez’s property was seized by the Spanish crown, La Casilla became a convent. This real‑world outcome adds a layer of historical irony to the novel’s depiction of the house as a site of secret study and rebellion.