Kotahi is a contented woman living in a rich successful future version of New Zealand. The world in her time exists in harmony and peace as social problems including disease, hunger, pollution, and neglect have been solved. It is a perfect situation where everyone can thrive and contribute productively to their own communities. Kotahi fulfils the roles of teacher, mother and wife, she considers herself to have the perfect life. The perfect world is destroyed by a series of well intentioned decisions made by the wise people in control of the world. This story is told partially by Mother's memoirs, and also by the perceptions of her offspring. A new community is formed but it has many problems to overcome. This book is about consequences and decisions gone wrong, but it is essentially about family and the resilience of family to meeting challenges, and then also the difficulty of living with other members of a family. * Kotahi - meaning first in Maori.