Senator Wanda Motherwell, liberal luminary, goes to the rescue of the last of the Tierra del Fuegans. She returns to her office with more than she knows. Helping her are: Magnus Musgrave, an inactive Episcopal bishop; Skipper Sprague, a millionaire friend of his; Grace Goodall who lives up to her name; Manuel Fragoza, illegal immigrant, impostor, and hero; Emily and Penelope, Smithies who suprise themselves; Patrick O'Feeley, who literally falls into love; Dr. Rodney Livermore, a dermatologist, who is not the fool he's taken for; Sheila Livermore, his radical-chic wife, who is. Arrayed against the Senator are: Foster Aiello, a political rival; Gertrude Gruntling, feminist firebrand; Prunella Parrish, calculating clergyperson; Golda Glass, wymynist childcare expert - and a supporting cast of priests and politicos, fanatics and feminists, children and cannibals. The Senator's experience of motherhood transforms her relationships and leads to the insight that her infant daughter has exercised enormous power.