Sensual, vivid, and sometimes shocking, Albany Park is the story of Patrice Chaplin's years as a youth--from a grey, wartime childhood to exhilarating and dangerous adventures in Europe and a romantic infatuation in a sun-drenched Catalonian city.
Patrice and Beryl, teenagers in the 1950s, live in Albany Park, a London suburb. Life is full of make-up, boys, trad jazz, and Soho nightclubs, and their dreams are of Hollywood. Leaving behind dead-end jobs, they hitchhike across Spain, dressed in the alternative street fashions of the day--white lipstick, dangle earrings, drainpipe trousers. Their path leads to the ancient city of Girona and the charismatic poet Jos Tarres. For Patrice, it is a homecoming--a rebirth that will mark the end of a friendship and the beginning of a lifelong obsession.
Patrice is enchanted by Jos, but there are shadows on the sunlit days--a possessive mother, mysterious absences, rumors of women, and whispers of espionage. With plans to elope seemingly aborted, she finds herself alone in Paris, working as a showgirl, arrested as a vagrant, and escaping unwanted sexual advances. Only years later, after returning to Girona as a writer, does she finally learn the truth about the enigmatic Jos, the first and true passion of her life.