In an Argentine prison, two men share a cell: Molina, a gay window dresser who is self-centered, self-denigrating, yet charming as well; and Valentin, an articulate, fiercely dogmatic revolutionary haunted by memories of a woman he left for the cause. Sometimes they talk all night long. In the still darkness of their Buenos Aires prison cell, Molina re-weaves the glittering and fragile stories of the film he loves, and the cynical Valentin listens. Valentin believes in the just cause that makes all suffering bearable; Molina believes in the magic of love that makes all else endurable.

Though they share little other than a cell, the two form a bond so intimate―and a relationship so profoundly affecting―that only the other could understand.

A graceful, intensely compelling novel about love and victimization and a classic of queer literature, Kiss of the Spider Woman has been adapted into an Academy Award-winning 1985 film and a Tony Award-winning 1993 musical.