In the mid-1970s, Theresa Dunn, a young Irish Americans school teacher in New York City, experiences her sexual awakening, while searching for excitement outside her ordered life. While in college, Theresa lives with her repressive Polish-Irish Catholic parents, and suffers from severe body image issues following a childhood surgery for scoliosis that left a large scar on her back. Theresa later finds out that her scoliosis is congenital disorder, and that her aunt had the same condition and committed suicide. As a result, Theresa is reluctant to have children of her own.