~ finding the right voice ~
Having moved to San Diego to be closer to the woman in his life, attorney Paul Madriani takes on the case of Jonah Hale, an elderly man in terrible straits. As a result of their only child Jessica's longtime drug addiction, Jonah and his wife have been raising their eight-year-old granddaughter, Amanda. On the heels of Jonah's multimillion-dollar state lottery win, Jessica revives her interest in mothering. When Jonah won't deal--maternal rights for a mega-bucks payoff--Jessica plays dirty: she accuses the old man of having sexually abused her as a child and similarly abusing Amanda now. Enter Zo Suade--a flamboyant, feminist activist with a penchant for making the objects of custody battles and their mother/plaintiffs "disappear. "