One of the hardest aspects of writing this book was the thought that this rift could be imposed on the family when Maggie is so young. When the court case takes place, Maggie is just about to turn four, the age of my youngest daughter when I was writing the novel. While the general legal precedent in custody cases between heterosexual parents was that children under six should be placed with their mother, the same rules did not apply to mothers like Dawn.
