Book Review: The Shadow of the Winds

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Spanish)

Translated by : Lucia Graves

Genre :  Fiction, Mystery

Other books in series : The Angel’s Game

The Shadow of the winds is the story of Daniel and his quest to locate the author of a Book that he has found and adapted at a secret book society called the Cemetery of Forgotten books. The plot is based in Barcelona, 1945 that is reeling through the aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War and throughout the book you will realize the impact these aftermaths have on the life of the main characters of this story.

To sum it up, Daniel, a 10-year old, son of bookseller is lamenting the loss of his mother. His father takes him to Cemetery of the forgotten books to get him a hobby and in turn a new life. Cemetery of forgotten books is a place known by a few and visited by far lesser people where in everybody picks a book, adapts it and makes sure its passed on to a  new generation. Daniel picks a book titled “The shadow of the winds” by an obscure author Julian Carax.

This book and the quest to locate the author and his other works changes Daniel’s life forever. Julian Carax is an author who is supposedly killed in Barcelona and someone is trying to erase all his works from the face of the earth. Daniel has his own love interests that keep him away from the quest for a while but a few years later he follows up on the quest again. The book then convolutes the stories of Julian Carax as well as that of Daniel leading to a formidable end to the story.

This is one of a kind gothic quest that details the life in Barcelona and the pains of the civil war. The author Zafon, has a way of telling things that anchors your interest till then end. Talking about the end, it becomes kind of obvious. But otherwise it is a great book and I am looking forward to read other of his works.