A middle-aged woman leaves her husband and children in search of herself.

Suburban housewife Mary Wilson, who is approaching her 16th wedding anniversary, has become bored and disillusioned with her marriage. Her husband Fred, a successful Denver tax lawyer, devotes his energies to his clients. Mary's ideal of marriage has been shattered by Fred's neglect, the tedium of her daily routine, and the responsibility of bringing up a teenaged daughter. She spends most of her waking hours drinking, taking pills, and watching old films on television. To avoid a repetition of her husband's wild anniversary party of the previous year, Mary leaves home and decides to go to Nassau. En route, she meets old college friend Flo, who is on her way to Nassau to meet Sam, the latest in a series of married admirers. In Nassau, Mary is propositioned by Franco, an American who poses as Latin lover, and who intends to run off with her money. Franco drops his guise when Mary reveals that she has left home without a penny. Hurt, Mary takes a sober glance at her past: her attempted suicide over her failed marriage; the heavy drinking that began when Fred, oblivious to her needs, recommended that she take up a pastime; the clothes-buying spree that led Fred to confiscate her credit cards; and her arrest for drunken driving. Sam finally proposes to Flo, and Fred calls Mary in Nassau to apologize. On her return to Denver, Mary is met by her maid. Instead of going home, she takes a job, rents an apartment, and enrolls in night school, where Fred meets her one night. Whatever the future may hold, their relationship will have been drastically altered.