After he mends a marital rift between a vacationing young couple, the bored, fragile wife falls hopelessly in love with the husband's ex-colleague who is married to a long-suffering and emotionally and physically scarred woman. The couple soon runs off to Greece together to pursue the romance.
It's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre, a writer of school textbooks, has married Mabel "on the rebound", after his real love Nona marries someone else. Just as war is about to break out, Nona returns home with her husband Tony. Mabel is sure she can hold onto Mark, though. But misunderstood good deeds on Mark's part turn life for him upside down when his relationship with a young girl starts tongues wagging. Soon, wartime casualties take their toll in Penny Green as well as on the front, as the death of fighting men affects lives back home.
A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding attended by many of the city's rich and powerful, meets a beautiful girl named Kay who turns out to be his ticket to meeting those rich and powerful people, and he soon manages to land a job on a newspaper. He gets caught up in the "make money at all costs" game but receives a rude awakening when the stock market crashes in 1929.
After experiencing several stressful situations within a short time — including the failure of the family business and the loss of her mother — Janet Broderick becomes ill. Falling into a deep sleep, she dreams of returning to her hometown, taking her children with her to meet her deceased loved ones. Perhaps, during a Christmas reunion with her beloved family, she will find the answer to coping with her troubles.
Flavia's been told that her Aunt Susan's fiancé, Steve, has been on a trip around the world, but in truth he's finished his prison term. Steve wonders how he can make some money and is approached by his old associates. When Flavia discovers the truth about Steve, she loses all faith in her family and in God, and it will take a miracle to restore Flavia's belief and Steve out of trouble.
Nan Moore is a U.S. government employee whose son is killed when Korean Air Flight 007 is shot down by Soviets on September 1, 1983. While the "official" story maintains that the flight accidentally veered too far into Soviet territory, was mistaken as a spy plane and shot down when it failed to identify itself, Ms. Moore suspects otherwise. However, in the course of her struggles to get to the bottom of what actually happened, she finds herself constantly stonewalled. Facing a conspiracy of silence and the increasing hostility of the authorities, Ms. Moore attempts to find out exactly what occurred, but with every answer she discovers, new questions arise...
After a mild heart attack at 63, Penelope Keeling is not ready to be an invalid yet...despite her children's attempts to take control of her life. She's given them everything she could over the years, but now they want Penelope to sell her most prized possession. Torn between the selfish demands of her children and her desire to hold onto cherished mementos of the past, Penelope must learn what is really important to her. She returns to the seashore, the only place she was ever truly free, in an unforgettable odyssey that will take her back to her home, her heart and another chance for happiness.
An aging school teacher (Lansbury) at a Catholic grammar school in Minnesota questions her life's existence when she has to start battling a new bishop (Prosky). As a result she retires and moves to Ireland where she seeks an admirer (Elliott) with whom she has been corresponding for five years.
Ada Harris, a London charwoman in the 1950's, sees a Dior dress and decides that she's going to own one. First, she scrimps and saves her money, but when she has enough, and takes a trip to Paris, she learns that buying an original couture creation is a little harder than simply plunking down cash. Along the way to her goal, she manages to befriend a count, unite young lovers, and dodge customs.