Martin (Michael Murphy) and Erica (Jill Clayburgh) are a successful New York couple who have been happily married for 17 years. The parents of Patti (Lisa Lucas), a precocious and witty teenager, they seem to have it all until Martin confesses to Erica that he is leaving her for another woman. Erica is emotionally devastated, unable to imagine life without her husband, and seeks comfort in therapy and her group of close woman friends. Ultimately, she is able to start over, finding fulfillment in her job at a Soho art gallery and a relationship with a passionate artist (Alan Bates). Erica is profoundly affected by her new freedom, finding strength within herself for the first time in her life. Clayburgh gives an excellent performance as a thoroughly modern woman of the 1970s forced to face her own fears and desires. Director Paul Mazursky's realistic and poignant portrayal of a generation of women in crisis was groundbreaking at the time of its release, capturing the true nature of women's friendships and struggles as well as the dilemma of divorce.