Odilia is the eldest of five sisters. She is marked by her sense of responsibility for her siblings, especially when their mother goes through tough times. She lives with a constant anxiety that she is not doing enough for her family. While her mother works nights to make ends meet after her husband abandoned the family, Odilia quickly fills a maternal and disciplinary role for her sisters. Second-eldest daughter Juanita initially rebels against her older sister’s authority, but eventually she learns to be grateful for Odilia’s care.

Odilia’s personal journey, especially her maturing perception of her mother, directly informs the story’s exploration of Misunderstood Women. Odilia is initially angry with her mother, feeling abandoned and resenting the burden that falls on her because of her mother’s absence. By learning from the women she meets on her journey, she comes to see that the Garza sisters’ mother has not abandoned them; on the contrary, she is doing everything she can to keep them safe.

In author Guadalupe García McCall’s hands, the legendary La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is re-envisioned as a woman misunderstood. In the storytelling tradition known to Odilia and her sisters, La Llorona drowned her children in the river as an expression of rage against her cheating husband.