In 1923 England, ailing novelist Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is starting to write her novel, 'Mrs. Dalloway', under the care of doctors and family. In 1951 Los Angeles, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a pregnant housewife whom is planning for her husband's birthday, but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001 New York, Clarrisa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is a lesbian publisher planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are interconnected with the novel mentioned before, as one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it.