Two literary women compete for 20 years: one writes for the critics; the other one, to get rich.

Three generations of women live on a small island off the coast of Washington state with their men with whom they have no end of problems.

A group of friends come of age in the asphalt desert of the San Fernando Valley, as set to a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.

Shepherd is the detective hired by an aristocratic Italian to locate a relative and thereby solve an ancient inheritance problem. As she sinks into the case, however, she finds out that there is much more to the case.