The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jo

In 1940s Barcelona a boy named Daniel lives with his father who owns a bookshop. One day, the father takes his son to the Cemetery of Forgotten books – a secret labyrinthine library that houses rare and banned books.

Daniel is drawn to one called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and takes it home with him. He reads and falls in love with the story only to discover that Carax has gone missing along with every other copy of the book. He then commits to discovering the mystery behind the missing author and books.

His travels bring him into contact with many interesting characters, including booksellers, beautiful women, an evil, disfigured man and a French spy, some of whom bear uncanny resemblance to characters in the book. It seems Daniel’s  seemingly innocent quest will blow open the truth of one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets.

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. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.

✎ “This book started with a bang with the main character Daniel visiting a place of pure fantasy. I can still see the place where Julian Carax’s book was hidden: the cemetery of forgotten books. This novel is densely plot driven, the characters are likeable and the prose is beautiful if a little melodramatic at times. I loved this exciting gothic tale, it has everything: mystery, love, death, skullduggery, curses, evil policeman … the list goes on. It has its faults, e.g. revealing the mystery in a letter all in one go, but I didn’t want to put it down and I loved it anyway.” – Jo

✎ “The imagery of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in the opening setting is a book lover’s dream and a sure bet you’ll want to read on. Tick. Plus, the main character Daniel Sempere is quite spellbinding and the support cost surprising and eerie. Tick, tick. However, for me, the plot quickly became contrived and overdone and I ended up being underwhelmed by this book.” – Rachel

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Published 2001
Planeta (Spain)
525 pages