Set in 1969, Abel Shaddick, a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in his upstate New York town of Fairview, particularly against his slacker nephew Stanley who lives behind the shop. Without telling his uncle, Stanley agrees to put up a needy city kid for the summer as part of a charity program run by rich debutante Gloria. Abel immediately vetoes the plan, but it is too late. The kid, young Herman Washington, is already on his way...
Six months pregnant and living in a beat-up tiny mobile home, Wanda LeFauve thinks she has found the solution to her problems when she agrees to meet well-to-do Rachel Luckman and her husband. The childless Luckmans are desperate to raise a baby and Wanda is anxious to find a home for her latest. They strike a deal, but as the birth parents and the potential adoptive parents get to know each other, fundamental differences emerge.
With their father away as a chaplain in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, male friends start to become a part of the household.