The Shadow of the Wind

Like A Gentleman in Moscow, The Shadow of the Wind immersed me in a world I was eager to know more about. The story is both a celebration of books and an up-close look at Spain under the fascist Franco. The use of well-known places in Barcelona added plenty of sugar on top!

I love the idea that books have souls, and I adore this quotation from Zafon’s classic novel: “Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it.”

I was thrilled to find this novel after I’d written my book because it shows that there are others who sense the soulful quality of old books. I also love it because it is written by a Spanish novelist, and it is in the Spanish-speaking world that we find the true literary origins… show more.

This book is set in Barcelona in 1945. Daniel, the son of an antiquarian bookseller, becomes entranced with an author's work—only to discover someone is destroying every copy written.

This excellent read offers a story of murder, mystery, and a secret. Are you a devoted enough reader of literary excellence to go on such a dangerous journey to save another author's work?

I immediately purchased book 2, don't miss this one!

I visited the Catalan city of Barcelona last year, and it was a case of love at first sight.

The city is deservedly known as the  ‘great enchantress’ but long before my visit, I had been enchanted by this novel, because it is also a city with an ancient, troubled, and violent past. Zafon writes about the power and magic of books and of love: a genuinely epic tale of a city like no other. My Barcelona was full of sunshine and beauty.

Beginning in 1945, but swiftly carrying us back into a troubled past, this is, by contrast, a… show more.

I have always loved libraries. This novel takes place in 1940s Barcelona, a place of danger, romance, and memories that linger like ghosts. There’s a hidden library, a lost author, and a touch of romance, all set during the dangerous aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. What more could I want?

The book begins with an introduction to the book of the title to a young boy who can no longer remember his mother’s face. His father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books as a consolation. He then becomes absorbed in the mysterious fates of both the book and its author, and then falls in love with a blind girl. Set in post-war Barcelona it is a romp with a cast of charming and eccentric characters whose chatter and wisdom often made me laugh out loud.

I had never heard of this book before when I walked into a small independent bookstore in a quaint town in upstate New York. Whenever I go to independent bookstores, I seek out the staff's recommendations. Well, love for Shadow of the Wind had spread in this bookstore like a virus, being recommended by at least four of the staff members. I bought the book immediately, not realizing that I was about to get lost in a gorgeous mystery set in historic Spain about a shadowy man trying to track down and burn every copy of a very specific book.… show more.

If you want your present to be a novel with books being one of the main characters, this mesmerizing masterpiece by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is my choice. The story about a mysterious book and the search for its author is beautifully wrapped in a time span from the wild days of the Spanish Civil War to the Franco regime until the 1960s. Though it’s at least 10 years ago that I read it for the first time, this novel is still giving me shivers (the good ones).