Widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer (Joanne Woodward) likes to say she's planning to open an upscale tea room, but in reality she's incapable of handling even the most pedestrian of life's responsibilities. A terrible homemaker and a questionable parent, she's a constant embarrassment to her two daughters. Ruth (Roberta Wallach) is given to rebellious acting out and seems destined to turn out like her mother, while Matilda (Nell Potts) is more thoughtful and likely to transcend her unfortunate childhood.