Being a new mother and recently separated from her husband, Lou Ann Ruiz's defining qualities are that she's frightened of everything, is insecure, and has low self-esteem. But she undergoes a transformation from dependent housewife into a strong single mother throughout the course of the novel. When she gets a knock on her door, by Taylor Greer, about the ad she had put out looking for a roommate, Lou Ann was surprised that Taylor had actually wanted anything to do with her after meeting, saying, “here you are, so skinny and smart and cute and everything, and me and Dwayne Ray, well, we're just lumping along here trying to get by” (79). Lou Ann had a lot to deal with, being insecure, having a manipulative and lying husband, and eventually
