Celia's Room

Sex, drugs and deception in the Barcelona night

“Stunning debut: If you like Kerouac or Isherwood, you will loveCelia’s Room.”

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 gay, lesbian and heterogeneous characters.

Despite their violently contrasting natures, Joaquim and Eduardo both fall under Celia’s aura. The games they are learning to play will draw all three into conflict—against the backdrop of a city that is also rehearsing a new identity—leading them inexorably towards the truth of Celia’s Room.

“Nothing is quite as it seems. This book rejoices in ambiguity and ambivalence, successfully capturing the zeitgeist of Barcelona.”