It’s September 1937, and the Jerome family of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, is gathering for dinner. Matriarch Kate rules the roost, with younger son Eugene at her beck and call. Older son Stanley arrives home with his job hanging by a thread after an argument with his boss. Patriarch Jack works two jobs and worries about supporting an extended family of seven, including his widowed sister-in-law, Blanche, and her daughters, Nora and Laurie. Meanwhile, Eugene daydreams about pitching for the Yankees and becoming professional writer. Brighton Beach Memoirs shows us two evenings, a week apart, in the life of the Jeromes, as war threatens and each family member faces a personal challenge.