Gloria, in Orange County California, is a soccer-mad college graduate, but her skill on the pitch is not matched by success in relationships. Beautiful, kind, and independent-minded, she finds the guys she meets controlling, while online all she attracts are scammers and ‘catfish’. Nor is life with her parents any easier. Her mother, Maria, a former TV actress, is locked in a depression and will only accept visits from the dubious Dr Mencius. Gloria’s father, Frank, recovering from a breakdown following the collapse of his business, is self-absorbed and prone to crazy ideas, including about the fate of the large charitable foundation he has formally entrusted to her. She fears the influence of the eccentric English aristocrat, Layne, upon him. Exceedingly rich, Layne flies everywhere in search of ‘green credentials’ but is gullible and at risk of ruin, not least from the escapades of his wayward son, Roane.

Gloria is relentless in her quest for the authentic in a world she finds increasingly false and malevolent.