The story is narrated by an unnamed woman who has just turned 45. Though her exact profession is not disclosed, she hints at being somewhat of a public figure. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that, like july, she is involved in mixed-media work such as filmmaking and writing, enjoying a dedicated, though niche, fan base. She isn’t widely known and avoids detailing her career but has found consistent success from a young age.
She resides in LA with her husband, jed, and their seven-year-old child, sam, who is referred to as ‘they/them’ and is identified as trans-feminine. Her marriage lacks passion and has become formal and stilted. They have separate bedrooms and scheduled sex, which she dreads beforehand but ends up enjoying, only to dread it again. She struggles with insomnia and has developed a mild addiction to Benadryl to cope. To maintain her wellbeing, she meticulously plans, prepares meals, cleans, and updates the family planner with social events.
The story begins with the narrator pondering a note from an FBI-employed neighbor, who informs her that someone was spotted taking a photo of her house with a telephoto lens. Instead of fear, the thought of being watched excites her. The neighbor offers to get the car’s license plate checked, but she predicts she will have solved the mystery by then.
She plans a trip to New York after receiving an unexpected $20,000 check from a whiskey company for a sentence she wrote about hand jobs years ago. She books a stay at the luxurious Carlyle hotel, intending to reconnect with friends, visit galleries, and see shows. A conversation at a dinner party leads her to decide to drive rather than fly: jed classifies people as Drivers, who stay engaged despite boredom, and Parkers, like her, who need challenging tasks. She hopes the road trip will transform her into a Driver. The journey, spanning nearly three weeks, will be the longest she has been away from sam. The route includes stops in Las Vegas, Zion National Park, and Kansas, before reaching New York and returning in time for a long-awaited meeting with the famous singer arkanda in Malibu.
Ageing is a significant theme in the novel. The narrator recounts how her grandmother leapt from her New York apartment window at 55, placing herself in a bin bag first to avoid a mess. Her aunt later did the same in her 60s. Her father refers to this state of depression as the ‘deathfield,’ which he battles with resilience.
Setting off on her trip, she stops in Sierra Madre after 30 minutes. A young, attractive man named davey cleans her windshield at a gas station, and they meet again at lunch. Learning that davey works at Hertz and is saving money with his wife claire, she decides to stay at a local motel, The Excelsior. She tells jed she is on schedule, although she is just half an hour away from home.
The following day, she buys a vintage bedspread and offers claire a $20,000 job to redecorate her motel room. They transform the room into a luxurious space without the manager’s permission, planning to revert the changes later. She keeps her location secret from most, lying to jed and sam about being in New York and confiding only in her best friend, jordi.
During a visit to Hertz, she and davey spend time together, avoiding mention of claire’s work. davey reveals his passion for dance, and they develop a deep, emotionally charged relationship. Though they never sleep together, she falls in love with him. His mother tells her about davey’s sexual education with an older woman, warning her to let go of her fantasies.
The narrator returns home, plunging into depression and obsessing over davey, who maintains his distance. She tries to rekindle her marriage with roleplay and begins seeing a woman named kris. As her marriage evolves into an open relationship, she and jed stop referring to each other as husband and wife, finding better communication and understanding.
Eventually, she plans to lure davey back with an erotic dance video posted online, only to discover he has moved away. After a sexual encounter with audra, his former lover, she experiences a sense of renewal. jed confronts her about the video, leading to an argument and further changes in their relationship.
In the final part, four years later, she flies to New York for her book launch with a new girlfriend. She reconnects with davey, now a successful dancer, realizing she no longer needs him and has time to explore her future.