True story of Barbara Daly, who married above her class to Brooks Baekeland, the dashing heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Beautiful, red-headed, charismatic, Barbara is still not a match for her well-born husband. The birth of the couple's only child, Tony, rocks the uneasy balance in this marriage of extremes. Tony is a failure in his father's eyes. As he matures and becomes increasingly close to his lonely mother, the seeds for a tragedy of spectacular decadence are sown. Spanning 1946 to 1972, the film unfolds in six acts. The Baekelands' pursuit of social distinction and the glittering "good life" propels them across the globe. We follow their heady rise and tragic fall against the backdrop of locations including New York, Paris, Cadaques, Mallorca and London. While a period tragedy, the story is embued with contemporary significance, as well as humour, light and life.