In a small village in Ireland, a single mother named Vera lives with her three daughters: Linda, Bea, and the unnamed oldest. The girls' father dies young in a hospital in Dublin. After his death, the mother takes her three daughters on a trip around Europe as she processes her grief. Eventually, they move back to their hometown, not too far from the girls' grandmother, who lives alone and is very difficult to please. Father Hugh, the local priest who befriended the family, has given up hope of trying to satisfy her, but Vera still visits, sometimes multiple times a day. Vera's main philosophy in life, which she tries to impart on her children, is that you should always strive to be happy. She tells them about her father's happiness on his deathbed. As the daughters get older, even after they marry and move out, life grows more and more hectic for their mother. Her room is a mess because she uses it to store unfinished things, such as unanswered letters, things that need fixing, etc. It gets to a point where Father Hugh and the doctor send her away on short vacations so that she can relax. She sometimes takes papers in a suitcase with her to get caught up but then dumps them out of the train window. Another escape for her is working in the garden. Even as she becomes advanced in age, she still labors as if she were young. One night, she stays up gardening past dark. Father Hugh and her three children watch her through the window, waiting for her to come back inside. Eventually, Father Hugh grows impatient, so he goes out to call her in, but they find that she isn't moving. They bring her inside, barely alive anymore, and stay with her, knowing that the doctor can't save her. Vera is in a panicked state, but Bea tells her that her time on earth is up and that she no longer has to struggle for happiness, which sets her at peace.