"Madrid, 1984." Spain is emerging from the gloom of Franco's dictatorship, blinking at the gleam of freedom. Widows in permanent black stare, horrified, at shrieking teens in miniskirts. Soldiers read furtively from once-banned books. Light and dark coexist, from the shimmer of Spain's summer playgrounds to the cold caves of Basque terrorists. The giddy nightlife sprees, the bullfights and the feasts and the chilling jolt of a coup d'etat await a group of young expatriates.

Some come looking for fun, some for a future. Some are looking for Hemingway. Kevin, a New York City transplant, is...