Noemi resists her father’s easy disregard of Catalina’s claims. Rather than rely on either man’s version of the story, she wants to read Catalina’s words for herself. In the letter Catalina makes numerous allegations of abuse—though the writing does become nonsensical as it goes on. Moreno-Garcia seems to position Catalina as a damsel in distress, a common trope in Gothic novels. The key difference here is that the damsel’s savior is Noemí, another woman.