An attractive but emotionally disturbed mother of two, Ivy offers to care for Henry Miller's two children when his wife leaves him, in exchange for room and board. She quits after 12 hours because the children are impossible. During trips to town for supplies, Walter Winslow and Ivy become lovers and she moves into his unlivable studio for the winter, never helping out except to polish the stove. Considering her a traitor, Miller avoids Ivy.