Set in the 1960s, this film details the relationship between an unorthodox, single vagabond mother named Rachel (Cher), and her two daughters. The older one, Charlotte (Winona Ryder), continually embarrassed by her flamboyant mother, wants to be the world's greatest Catholic; the younger one, Kate (Christina Ricci), would be satisfied with becoming the world's champion swimmer. Moving with her family from Oklahoma to Massachusetts, Charlotte falls in love from afar with Joe (Michael Schoeffling), the groundskeeper from a nearby convent, while Rachel takes up with a lonely salesman named Lou (Bob Hoskins).