The tale starts in a suburban house in 1971 with a schoolboy Simon dreaming of how he will make a fortune. The main story is about X Factor hopeful Chenice, a would-be astrobiologis twho lives in a caravan under a flyover with her terminally ill grandfather in an iron lung, and Max, a ukulele-playing plumber.. She is persuaded by her adoring plumber, to audition for The X Factor. She has never heard of X Factor but it could be her route out of poverty.Their romance blooms as everything around them shimmers with glitz and deception.