The Hours is the story of three women in search of a stronger, more meaningful life Based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham, the film interweaves the stories of three women - a book publisher in New York (Meryl Streep), a young mother in California (Julianne Moore) and author Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman). Their stories intertwine and eventually come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition. Philip Glass' ravishing, Oscar- and Grammy-nominated score was a key element of this acclaimed triptych of dramatic narratives. "The interweaving of personal stories over a vast span of time," "is held together by a single musical approach."