Caroline is the mother of three daughters, all of whom she cherishes for different reasons, whether it be one's intelligence and another's beauty. She endures a lifeless marriage with her husband, who hardly keeps in contact with her while he takes visiting professorship appointments around the United States, and leaves her in Madison, Wisconsin to raise her girls on her own. Rather than address the unhappiness in her life, Caroline lives vicariously through her daughters, and attempts to set them up for romantic and academic opportunities that she gave up on herself. With the rest of her free time, Caroline writes letters to different newspapers where she condemns Hitler's actions during his rise to power. She feels an urgency about the war beginning in the 1930's, and attempts to spread the word to anyone who will listen, although very few people do. Several decades later, Caroline's plans for her daughters have reaped great rewards, all except for the daughter who died of drug addiction. She reminisces on the past, and an old family friend remembers that fall and considers stopping by to catch up.