Loviah French owns a boutique dress shop in Manhattan. She has two best friends: Dinah - a columnist covering New York's wealthiest - and Avis - a prominent figure in the art world. Despite the deep affection they both feel for Loviah, Dinah and Avis have been allergic to one another since an incident decades earlier that has been remembered and resented. But when a marriage means that Dinah and Avis must set aside their differences, Loviah must manage her two friends' secrets as wisely as she can. Which is not wisely enough, as things turn out - a fact that will have a shattering effect on all their lives.