It is one thing to bad talk members of your family and start a family war. One is raising the bar exponentially when bad talking a family member's art, particularly when that person is your own mother. The story revolves around young man, Charles Ludden, a furniture designer and maker, whose life becomes complicated when his mother, Marie Ludden, arrives for an extended visit due to some health issues. His mother's dating bothers him, but much more than that, is an impending publishing of a book of her poetry over pictures of her in the nude, taken by her collaborator, a photographer named Roger Burs. Charles' efforts to pressure Marie not to go through with it almost causes the family to split apart permanently. He gets a hard lesson in the backlash that comes from trying to manipulate his mother's life and her art.