In a small Montana town in the 1950s and 60s, a young carpenter discovers himself being drawn into the tensions and joys of family life. Marc Singer's marriage to Olivia, one of the four Stavros sisters, opens the door to new feelings and experiences he has never encountered before. Raised by his grandmother, he is a stranger to the teasing humor and smoldering resentments that preside at the Stavros dinner table. Olivia and her sisters are vastly disparate from each other; one is serious and steadfast; one dutiful; another romantically unstable; and one enigmatic. Mark takes great pleasure watching the sisters interact, the oldest of whom slowly begins to cast a spell over him. The two embark on an illicit affair, and as events lurch out of control, threatening to unravel this closely knit family, Mark has no choice but to confront the nature of marriage and desire.