Nola, an aspiring songwriter, leaves an abusive Kansas home and journeys to New York to find her biological father. Once there, she finds more than she expected.

Ben's dad, Sam, shows up one night with a note that Ben's mother has left. While Ben's wife and his three sisters try to find her, Ben takes Sam on a day trip to see a farmhouse that is for sale.

The Great New Wonderful weaves five stories against the backdrop of an anxious and uncertain post-9-11 New York City.

With an interminable case of writer's block and a personal family crisis, playwright Nate is forced to move into his father's retirement community.