The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Wolff, Lina. Carnality. Other Press LLC, 2022.

Lina Wolff's novel Carnality is written from the third and first person points of view. The novel employs both the past and present tenses, and spans several eras. Set primarily in Madrid, Spain and tracing the lives of main characters Bennedith, Mercuro, and Lucia, Carnality toys with conventional notions of plot, structure, and form. The following summary presents a more streamlined synopsis and relies upon the present tense.

When 45-year-old Bennedith receives a writing grant to live in Madrid, Spain, she feels neither excited nor exhilarated. The last time she was in Madrid, she was a young student invigorated by all the city and life had to offer. On her first night back in Madrid, Bennedith forces herself to leave the apartment and have a glass of wine at a local bar. While there, she meets a curious man named Mercuro who begs her to let him stay with her. Bennedith takes his number, promising to consider the arrangement.

The next day, Bennedith lies on a lounger in the sun, waiting to feel something akin to joy. Suddenly she realizes that if she does not take any risks in life, she will never live at all. She phones Mercuro and tells him she will house him. Acting on another impulse to change her life, she approaches an elderly woman named Miranda and volunteers to be her ailing husband's, Santiago, aid. When Miranda asks Bennedith's rate, Bennedith realizes she does not want compensation. She simply wants to devote more time to helping others.

Over the following days and weeks, Bennedith becomes closer with Mercuro, Miranda, and Santiago. These relationships give her life structure, meaning, and purpose.

One evening, Mercuro tells Bennedith everything he has suffered in the recent past. After the love of his life Soledad discovered he was cheating on her, she became hateful and vengeful. Desperate to save their marriage, Mercuro suggested they apply to be on the show Carnality. On the show, the hosts, Miss Pink and Mister Blue, along with a miracle-working nun named Lucia, promised to deliver people from the pain of their carnal desire.

During the taping of the show, Mercuro embraced honesty. He confessed to all of his sins, desperate to win the hosts', the nun's, and the audience's sympathy. Instead, he was met with condescension and condemnation. They told him the only way to save himself was to donate his organs to those in need. Desperate to escape this fate, Mercuro fled and started living on the streets.

After hearing Mercuro's story, Bennedith realizes how similar they are. She and Mercuro have both made mistakes, but both want to change.

One day while working with the elderly couple, Bennedith bursts out at Santiago in frustration. Miranda witnesses the incident and fires Bennedith. When she gets home, Mercuro realizes how sad Bennedith is and proposes a holiday to one of the nearby islands. They begin a romantic affair.

While on the island, an unhinged man named Johnny inserts himself into Bennedith's and Mercuro's lives. One night he manically rows them out to a secluded lagoon and tries to drown them. Determined to save herself and Mercuro, Bennedith kills Johnny. After the police find the lovers, Mercuro flees and Bennedith goes to prison.

While in prison, Bennedith corresponds with Lucia, desperate to understand what really happened to Mercuro on Carnality. In her letters to Bennedith, Lucia tells Bennedith about her life. She writes about her childhood in Extremadura. She writes about her life at the convent. She describes her lifelong desire to help others. She also describes her involvement with Carnality.

When a young girl named Ada came to the convent one day, Lucia felt overwhelmed by maternal love for her. Therefore, when Ada proposed the idea for Carnality, Lucia supported her. Over time, Carnality changed and Lucia grew worried. In her old age, she is desperate for someone to save Ada from wickedness and thus preserve the show's integrity. She appoints Bennedith as her successor, working with lawyers to secure her release from prison.

When Bennedith gets out of prison, she reunites with Miranda and Santiago who have forgiven her. While away on a holiday together, Santiago begs Bennedith to help him die. In her first act of mercy as Lucia's successor, she swims Santiago out into the water and pops his tube. She feels released from her loneliness, envy, and hatred.