 In Marin County, California, writer George Dunlap and his wife Faith are an unhappy couple who live with their daughters Sherry, Jill, Marianne and Molly in a farmhouse that George has refurbished.George is preparing to attend an awards banquet in his honor, when he receives a phone call from Sandy, a single mother with whom he has begun an affair.Sherry, the oldest of the four children, picks up the phone and listens in on the conversation.