The Shadow of the Wind

Book

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Review by Sharon Miller

☻☻☻☻☻

Setting:

Barcelona, Spain

Wandering through the maze of the “Cemetery of Forgotten Books,” young Daniel, a book dealer’s son, discovers a novel by a seemingly unknown author, Julian Carax. By taking it home and reading it, Daniel unwittingly links himself to the twisted lives of the author and the people who loved him.

As Daniel fumbles through the awkward years of his adolescent, he learns that someone is systematically destroying all of the books ever written by Carax, and that his may very well be the last copy in existence.

With the help of his friend, Fermin Romero de Torres, who has an unfavorable history with the chief of police (which is reminiscent of the Jean Valjean/Javert relationship in Les Miserable) Daniel enters into the sordid past of Carax.

The story takes the reader on a journey through the darker side of Barcelona, just healing from the wounds of its civil war. As Daniel and Fermin delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding Carax’s life, they open a Pandora’s Box of murder, tragic loss and doomed love. And although they are searching the past for the answers, their own present becomes intertwined with the mysteries they uncover and their lives begin to follow the same dark and disturbing path.

Sadly, the reader must stand by and watch as Daniel makes the same tragic mistakes that Carax made as a young man, and can only hope that his outcome will be better.

Originally written in Spanish by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind, possesses an elegance normally portrayed in classic literature. The language, pace and feel of the novel, all beautifully preserved by Lucia Graves in her translation, gives an impression of romance and grace that seems to be lacking in most modern novels. Nevertheless, the plot twists and intrigue littered throughout will keep the pages turning and make it difficult to put it down.