The Alencar Costa e Oliveira family talk to each other through inside jokes, often saying the opposite of what they mean, or repeating the same sentence until it acquires new meaning. But they also have a dark inheritance: every member of the family has died of the same cause - acute melancholy.

From the author of The Love of Singular Men comes a family saga like no other. Equal parts postmodern, tender and satirical, Gloria follows three brothers - Benjamin, Daniel and Abel - as they do battle with online forums, religious hysteria, the art world of Rio de Janeiro, ants, aunts, love, humiliation and a stammering God.