self-realization in women

Nineteen-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up with her grandparents. Her grandmother is a force of nature--willful, outspoken, wise, and fiercely protective. Her African American grandfather, an astronomer and professor, is a gentle man with a comforting presence. When her grandfather dies, Maya falls apart and turns to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime. Lost in a dangerous underworld she is rescued by her grandmother who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile.

Draws on the secrets of the ancient masters to show women the path to improving every aspect of their lives, including love, creativity, and self-awareness, by explaining how to master six important lessons--Love, Fly, Defy, Expand, Calm, and Give. Original.

Holly tires of the limitations her life as a stay-at-home mom affords her and immerses herself in extramarital sex, which gives Andrea pause to pondering pursuing Holly's cast-off husband; meanwhile, Marissa, who has a rebellious, gay son and a terminally ill daughter, struggles to connect with her husband, who hides behind his work.

Annie O'Sullivan spends a year being held captive by a madman in a remote mountain cabin, and as she recounts the experiences of her captivity and escape to her psychiatrist, she begins to put the pieces of her life back together.