Rosamund Stacey (Sandy Dennis), a young 'bookish' girl in London society, spends her days studying for a doctorate in the British Museum and her nights avoiding the sexual attention of the men in her life. But one day, all that changes. Through a friend, she is introduced to rising TV newsreader/announcer George Matthews (Ian McKellen) and after a further chance meeting and a tumble on the sofa, she finds herself pregnant from her first sexual encounter. After a failed attempt at self-induced abortion, Rosamund resolves to have the child, leaving her on a solitary and at times discouraging path through pregnancy and into single motherhood, aided only by her close friend Lydia (Eleanor Bron).