Barrett Meeks, having lost love yet again, is walking through Central Park when he is inspired to look up; he sees a pale, translucent light that seems to regard him in a distinctly godlike way. At the same time, in Brooklyn, Tyler, Barrett's older brother, a struggling musician, is trying to write a song for Beth, his wife-to-be, who is seriously ill. Barrett, haunted by the light, turns unexpectedly to religion, while Tyler grows increasingly convinced...

SoHo art dealer Peter Harris and his wife Rebecca, an editor for an art magazine, find their staid and comfortable life in Manhattan's art world disrupted by the arrival of Rebecca's much younger brother, Ethan.