The Lambert family, once a seemingly ordinary Midwestern clan, finds itself fractured and adrift as the turn of the millennium approaches. At the heart of it all are Alfred, the patriarch, now succumbing to the creeping shadows of Parkinson's disease and dementia, and Enid, his wife, whose lifelong obsession with appearances and a picture-perfect family Christmas intensifies with his decline. She clings desperately to the idea of one last, ideal gathering, a desperate attempt to correct the perceived failures of their lives and her children's tumultuous paths.
Their eldest, Gary, a successful banker, is secretly drowning in a mire of depression, alcoholism, and a suffocating marriage to Caroline, who seems to delight in subtly undermining him. He battles a pervasive paranoia, convinced his wife and children are conspiring against him, and stubbornly refuses to acknowledge his own clinical depression, even as he obsesses over his brain's chemical balance. His anxieties are further fueled by his father's stubborn refusal to pursue a larger settlement for a patent, leaving Gary to dread the financial burden of his aging parents.
Chip, the middle child, a former academic, has seen his career implode after an affair with a student. Now unemployed and adrift in New York, he drifts into a morally ambiguous scheme in Lithuania, entangled with a corrupt official and a fraudulent internet venture, all while struggling to finish a screenplay. He believes himself above the pursuit of money, an intellectual, but his mounting debt and desperate circumstances force a harsh confrontation with the realities of modern American consumer culture.
Denise, the youngest and outwardly most successful, is a talented chef in Philadelphia whose ambition is matched only by her complicated romantic entanglements. Her professional ascent is marred by a disastrous affair with her married boss and his wife, ultimately costing her her position. She navigates a complex web of relationships, reflecting her struggles for both professional fulfillment and personal connection, often echoing her flight from her parents' influence.
As Enid's yearning for that final, perfect Christmas becomes an almost unbearable pressure, each sibling grapples with their own "corrections" - attempts to fix their lives, their identities, and their relationships. The narrative delves into their individual histories, revealing the deep-seated dysfunctions and resentments that have quietly festered for decades. The anxieties of a changing America, marked by consumerism, the pharmaceutical industry, and the impact of technology, weave through their personal struggles, mirroring the broader societal shifts.
The family eventually convenes for the Christmas Enid so desperately orchestrated, a gathering fraught with tension, unspoken truths, and the stark reality of Alfred's rapidly deteriorating condition. The facade of normalcy cracks, exposing the raw, uncomfortable truths beneath. Alfred's decline accelerates, eventually leading to his placement in a nursing home, a difficult but necessary step.
In the aftermath of this tumultuous reunion, the family members begin, in their own halting ways, to find a semblance of resolution. Chip, having survived his Lithuanian misadventures, eventually starts a family in Chicago, finding a more mature path. Denise embraces her culinary talents in Brooklyn, carving out a new, trendy life. Enid, liberated from the constant care of her husband and perhaps aided by a mysterious overseas pill that blocks shame, finds a newfound, if unsettling, freedom and happiness, reflecting on her life with a desire for change. Even as Alfred ultimately succumbs to Alzheimer's two years later, the surviving Lamberts, through their individual reckonings and small, hard-won adjustments, navigate the complex terrain of adulthood and familial responsibility, searching for meaning amidst the chaos of their lives.
