<p>Neglected by her parents, nineteen-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up in Berkeley with her grandparents. Her grand­mother Nini is a force of nature, a woman whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973. Popo, Maya's grandfa­ther, is a gentle man whose solid, comforting presence helps calm the turbulence of Maya's adolescence.</p><p>When Popo dies of cancer, Maya goes completely off the rails, turning to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime in a downward spiral that eventually bottoms out in Las Vegas. Lost in a dangerous underworld, she is caught in the cross­hairs of warring forces. Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. Here Maya tries to make sense of the past, unravels myste­rious truths about life and about her family, and embarks on her greatest adventure: the journey into her own soul.</p>