The story shows how Mama, with the help of her husband and Uncle Chris, brings up the children in their modest San Francisco home during the early years of the 20th century. Mama, a sweet and capable manager, sees her children through childhood, manages to educate them and to see one of her daughters begin her career as a writer. Mama's sisters and uncle furnish a rich background for a great deal of comedy and a little incidental tragedy, while the doings of the children manage to keep everyone in pleasant turmoil.

A heartwarming study of American family life, I Remember Mama was the basis of a Broadway musical, an Academy Award-nominated film, and a long-running television series.