The film's opening credits are followed by a written statement, in which a fictitious book, Little Ladies and Gentlemen or Child Guidance by Love and Reason by Matilda Boggs, is touted, and "the Hollingsworth household in the fashionable suburb of Westport, Long Island" is mentioned. After the statement, actress Judy Clark, as the character "Joan Hollingsworth," is seen reading Boggs's book. She then addresses the audience and recalls an incident from her adolescence, which is depicted briefly as a flashback. The main story, as described above, is also presented as a flashback.