Leila Landsman, an academic, is married to a philandering theatre director. An expert on abused women, she begins to investigate the notorious case of Becky Burgess and her teenage lover, who are accused of murdering her husband. As Leila is drawn into Becky's life story of ambition and need, she also meets Mary Burke, a respectable cleaning lady who has no place to live. As all three lives intertwine, and their dramas unfold, Marge Piercy probes their minds and hearts, sharing the frustration, rage, determination and joy that thread through every women's life.