Consuelo (Connie) Ramos

Connie is the novel's central character and protagonist, a middle-aged, Hispanic woman with a troubled history - several love affairs with what most people (certainly the authority figures in her life) would call "unsuitable" men, several experiences of violence (physical and emotional) and of substance abuse (both drugs and alcohol), and perhaps most importantly, a record of mental/emotional instability. There is the sense throughout the novel that in her own mind, in her perceptions of herself and of her life, she is a victim - that throughout her life various authority figures have dismissed her, controlled her, and punished her simply because she does not conform to what they think she should feel and how she should behave. This sense of victim-hood, justified or no (and the novel makes no clear statement whether it is or it isn't - see "Style - Point of View...