A Jewish mother wants her daughter to marry well and have a better life, but her husband doesn't seem to care. After her other daughter passes away, she realizes she should not hesitate to make bigger sacrifices.

A middle-aged Canadian writer reflects on her life, and recalls a family friend who has spent decades drifting in and out of her life, and who leaves chaos and clarity in her wake.

A female novelist asks her friend for help with her story about a woman who has a reputation for her husbands dying during marriage. The friend offers a story idea that seems oddly similar to the author's life.

A working-class mother has held only one hope for her entire life: that one day, her daughter would marry well and wealthy, and take care of her in her old age. When her daughter reveals that the man she loves is not wealthy, her mother's dreams of rest are dashed and divided.

An elderly woman prepares for her death, but is anxious for someone to listen to her precious memories and cherish them after her death.

Haunted by her father's death caused by cancer, a woman attempts to die by suicide. When her boyfriend's advisor finds out she has stolen cyanide from his lab, she must hide her will to die from her boyfriend.

An alcoholic housewife struggles with her family obligations and her addiction.

A Canadian graduate student and his wife are living in France and often socialize with their peers at concerts and dinner parties. They soon make friends with an established novelist, but as the student continues to meet people he begins to question who he can trust and who his real friends are.

Two women, once the closest of childhood friends, chart diametrically opposite courses through life when scandal drives them apart. Thirty years later, a chance reunion prompts one of them to question everything.

Having sacrificed his dream job to financially support his marriage, a man realizes there is sexual tension between his wife and his friend. Ultimately, he makes tough decisions about both his friendship and his marriage.