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Lola is Oscar’s fiercely protective and loving older sister. From an early age, Lola’s tomboyish behavior complicated her relationship with her mother. Their relationship grew increasingly antagonistic during Lola’s teenage years, particularly after her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. Lola felt emotionally crushed by her mother’s overbearing personality. She also felt disempowered by her mother’s casual cruelty. In an attempt to assert her own identity, Lola rebelled. She adopted a goth-punk aesthetic, shaved her head, and ran away with an older white boy. When her mother eventually caught up with her, she punished Lola by sending her to live with a relative in the Dominican Republic. The experience there proved revelatory for Lola, who thrived outside her mother’s shadow. Upon returning to New Jersey, however, she found her mother as cruel and unforgiving as ever. Lola longed to run away. Yet her experiences also gave her the wisdom to understand that she could only change herself and not her mother. Lola applied this wisdom to her longtime but troubled relationship with Yunior, who persisted in cheating on her. In the end, Lola survives everyone else in her family and gives birth to the next generation of the de León family.

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