Tracing three generations of a striving East Coast family, Norumbega Park begins with an all-American quest for real estate. One night in 1969, while driving with his wife and children in the country, Richie Palumbo realizes he is lost. He finds himself in the town of Norumbega, a beautiful historic enclave west of Boston. He spots a magnificent old house and decides he must have it, no matter the cost. The owners don’t want to sell, but he returns, again and again, finally realizing his dream and setting his children on a course far from his own working-class roots. For his wife, Stella, and their children and grandchildren, the house sets the stage for a lifetime of spiritual and emotional odysseys. From the start, their son, Jack, and their daughter, Joan, seem destined to inhabit separate worlds. Jack sees the world as a sexual playground, while Joan craves solitude and prayer. As their fates unravel, Norumbega Park becomes a haunting portrait of dreams versus realities --- and the family legacies that shape who we become.