Maite Jaramillo

Much of the novel centers on Maite Jaramillo, a secretary at a legal firm in Mexico City. Maite, as she nears thirty, is unmarried, childless, and financially unstable. Describing herself, Maite says she “wasn’t beautiful, not even pretty, and the thought of her meager charms disappearing filled her with dread” (19). Maite spends much of her time listening to records (many in English) and reading romance comics, in particular Secret Romance. She also steals trinkets from unsuspecting neighbors and, apparently, from department stores. Maite, in general, pines for an escape from her mundane, dull life.

At the novel’s start, Maite describes her former relationship with a man she affectionately refers to as Cristóbalito. Although he left her for another woman, Maite calls him her “first love. Her one love” (20). As Maite slowly becomes involved in the disappearance of Leonora Trejo, her life grows to resemble...