While dressing for the Annual Book Awards ceremony, writer George Dunlap breaks into tears listening to his wife, Faith, squabbling with their four daughters in the next room. He seeks respite in his office and uses the telephone to make a call. Sherry, the eldest Dunlap daughter, discreetly picks up the receiver and hears her father speaking to a woman. Leaving the children at home, Faith and George drive to the event in San Francisco, California, where George wins an award and dedicates the honor to Faith for filling the “thankless role” of a writer’s wife. Back home, Sherry becomes upset when she notices her parents retire to separate bedrooms and assumes they are fighting again. The next morning, George throws a tantrum over his lost eyeglasses, and Faith reveals that she knows about his mistress. When she refuses to discuss the subject further, George smashes several plates, gather his bags, and leaves. As Faith falls into lethargic depression, Sherry struggles to keep the family afloat by scheduling her sisters’ appointments and cooking meals. One evening, George returns to the house with a police officer to reclaim his collection of books. While packing a box, Faith and George laugh reminiscing about happier times, but the mood quickly turns sour again and Faith sends him away. Although Sherry refuses to see her father, her sisters Jill, Marianne, and Molly spend their weekends with George and eventually meet his mistress, Sandy. At the house, Faith receives a visit from a contractor named Frank Henderson, who was previously hired to build a tennis court in the Dunlaps’ yard. Faith regretfully informs him that her recent separation has left her unable to pay upfront, but Frank takes a liking to her and agrees to follow through with the development. When George drops off the children, he asks Faith if Sherry would be willing to spend her upcoming birthday with him, but Faith is doubtful. Faith introduces him to Frank, prompting George to protest the plans for the tennis court. As the children help Frank with the construction, Faith invites him to stay for dinner. After the meal, the two adults move to the living room, where they kiss. The next morning, Sherry declares that she hates her father, but Faith does not blame George for the dissolution of her marriage. On Sherry’s birthday, George stops by the house to find his daughter has gone to the ballet with her grandmother. Before he leaves, George shouts obscenities at Frank as he works in the yard. Later that night, George returns with Sherry’s birthday present, but she refuses to see him. When Faith slams the door in his face, George smashes the glass window and barges into the house, grabbing Faith and throwing her outside. Upstairs, George breaks down Sherry’s bedroom door and beats her with a clothes hanger. As Faith struggles to open the lock, the daughters attempt to pull their father off Sherry, but he does not relent until Sherry threatens him with a pair of scissors. Faith re-enters the house and embraces her sobbing daughter as George flees in shame. Although Faith’s lawyer insists they limit George’s privileges with the children by depicting him as an abusive adulterer, Faith refuses. When Faith learns her elderly father, French DeVoe, has been hospitalized, she and George go to visit him. They pretend their marriage is stable, but French can sense they are lying, and dies a few minutes later. After the funeral, George finds Faith sitting alone in a restaurant and insists on joining her. As she grows agitated, Faith yells at him about the misery of their married life. George claims he never felt involved in the family, and stood by watching in awe as his wife raised their four children with seemingly little effort. When the discussion moves to their new lovers, Faith claims that Frank reminds her of the man George used to be. Two frustrated diners at an adjacent table become involved in their argument, and the restaurant owner encourages them all to sit down and order dinner. After several drinks, Faith and George drunkenly return to the hotel and kiss in the doorway to Faith’s room. Although she initially protests his advances, they have sex. Faith reflects on the former passion in their relationship until Sherry opens the door and sees them in bed together. Sometime later, Faith and Frank host a barbeque to celebrate the completion of the tennis court. When they dance together, Sherry scorns her mother for having sex with both Frank and her father. The girl runs through the woods toward the beachfront house where George, Sandy, and her son, Timmy, are playing cards. George notices Sherry sitting on the pier and brings her the typewriter he bought for her birthday. She asks him if he enjoys being with Sandy and Timmy more than her and her mother, but he insists he still loves Faith even though they need to go their separate ways. They hug, and George drives Sherry home, admiring Frank’s craftsmanship on the new tennis court. Hoping to be mature about their situation, Faith invites her estranged husband to bring Sandy over for a match sometime. Although George accepts the offer, he gets into his car and slams the gas, plowing through the tennis court and adjacent garage. Frank pulls George from the wreckage and beats him bloody, leaving his body in a heap on the ground. As the Dunlap girls surround their injured father, George weakly extends an arm toward his wife and murmurs her name.