Molly Jacobs has been away in Europe for a year. Just returned to her flat in London, she invites her friend Anna Wulf over for a talk. The two women are quite close, having once lived together in the flat with their children: Tommy is Molly’s grown son, while Janet is Anna’s pre-teen daughter. Their talk is immediately interrupted by a phone call. Richard, Molly’s ex-husband, wants to drop by. Anna decides to stay, even though she knows Richard does not like her. He and Molly also have a contentious relationship, largely because of Molly’s political beliefs. She was once a communist, as was Anna.

While waiting for Richard, the two women talk about their former psychoanalyst, Mrs. Marks, whom they call Mother Sugar; how and why they live unconventional lives—“neither of us were prepared to get married simply to give our children fathers”; and Molly’s discomfort at being back in England, “this damned class-ridden country” (11). They purchase some strawberries from a street vendor and are enjoying them with cream and wine when Richard arrives. He wants to discuss Tommy: The boy is 19 now, and Richard wants Tommy to live with him and perhaps work for him in his financial firm.