Kevin Booth paints an expressionist portrait of the Barcelona night in a year of sex, drugs and deception. Told through their own eyes, sensitive Joaquim--whose passion for painting will propel him into the artist's life--and cynical Eduardo--addicted to a nightlife that thwarts his ambition to write--unveil a sexual, dreamlike city, personified by the enigmatic Celia. Shadowy chapters in Spanish history are revealed in this nocturnal world by an extravagant cast of heterogeneous characters.

Despite their violently contrasting natures, Joaquim and Eduardo both fall under Celia's...