A distant cousin comes to stay with a married couple in Nashville. As boys from her hometown come out to haunt her, she starts to lose control and a Shakespearean twist unfolds.

In upstate New York, a journalist reflects on his complex relationships with a local politician and businessman, his children, and the wife who murdered him.

In the early days of World War III, an American millionaire's daughter and a British aristocrat celebrate their wedding at a ritzy hotel. They hold lavish spectacles and debate about the nature of reality, while they anxiously consider the impending war.