Cynthia

The social worker who informs Taylor that she has no legal claim to Turtle but encourages her to try to adopt the little girl.

Esperanza

Esperanza, Estevan's wife, speaks little Eng­lish and is silent throughout much of the novel; she also has a sad, distant quality about her, which makes Taylor wonder what has happened to her in the past. Upon meeting Esperanza for the first time, Taylor feels Esperanza's depression and notes that she "took up almost no space." Eventually Taylor learns that her sadness is due mostly to the fact that the small daughter she and Estevan had in Guatemala was taken from them by the government in a raid on their neighborhood. Esperanza's brother and two of their friends had also been killed in this raid. Taylor's daughter Turtle reminds Esperanza of her own lost daughter, and Turtle's presence often seems to be...