The novel focuses particularly on the women—Celia del Pino, her daughters Lourdes and Felicia, and her granddaughter Pilar. While most of the novel is written in the third person, some sections are written in the first person and other sections are epistolary.
The novel concentrates primarily on the female characters—Celia del Pino, her daughters Lourdes and Felicia, and her granddaughter Pilar. The majority of the novel is written in the third person, but it also includes sections written from a first-person perspective and those presented as letters.