This chapter spans many years in the life of Sofia, often called Sofi, and her four daughters:Esperanza, Caridad, Fe, and La Loca. The novel opens with a seizure of the youngest daughter, nicknamed La Loca (meaning the crazy one). The three-year-old is pronounced dead by the local doctor but rises from the dead in the midst of her own funeral. Though later diagnosed as an epileptic and possibly pronounced dead erroneously, La Loca claims to have travelled to hell, purgatory, and heaven during the time she was dead. She leaps from her coffin and lands on the roof of the church, shocking the funeral attendees and garnering a reputation as a child who performs “miracles” (23). As time goes on, La Loca earns her nickname, “and even La Loca’s mother and sisters called her that because her behavior was so peculiar” (25). She has a deep aversion to physical touch, keeps mostly to her mother’s house, and spends her time praying for her sisters’ well-being. 

We also get an overview of the late teen years and early adulthood of the remaining sisters, noting that they “had each gone out into the world and had all eventually returned to their mother’s home” (25).